Valaris Limited $VAL Position Boosted by American Century Companies Inc.

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Valaris Limited by 244.2% in Q1, owning approximately 115,211 shares valued at $4,523,000 by quarter's end.
• Several institutional investors, including Tejara Capital Ltd. and Dimensional Fund Advisors, made notable increases to their holdings in Valaris, with 96.74% of the stock currently owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts have mixed sentiments on Valaris, with target price estimates ranging from $39.00 to $52.00 and an average rating of "Hold" among a majority of analysts.

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL - Free Report) by 244.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 115,211 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 81,737 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.16% of Valaris worth $4,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Valaris by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,761,369 shares of the company's stock valued at $108,412,000 after acquiring an additional 460,792 shares during the period. Condire Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Valaris by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Condire Management LP now owns 2,618,678 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,850,000 after buying an additional 665,718 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Valaris by 49.7% in the first quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,131,601 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,455,000 after purchasing an additional 375,466 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Valaris by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 818,461 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,209,000 after purchasing an additional 88,160 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Valaris by 2.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 813,871 shares of the company's stock worth $31,953,000 after buying an additional 20,278 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.74% of the company's stock.

Valaris Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:VAL traded up $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $49.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 621,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,715,290. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $47.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.03. The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 1.17. Valaris Limited has a fifty-two week low of $27.15 and a fifty-two week high of $58.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 1.81.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $615.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $582.70 million. Valaris had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 12.36%. Valaris's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Valaris from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Clarkson Capital lowered shares of Valaris from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $54.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday. SEB Equity Research set a $45.50 price objective on shares of Valaris in a report on Monday. Fearnley Fonds lowered shares of Valaris from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Valaris from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Valaris has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $47.21.

Valaris Profile

Valaris Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services Gulf of Mexico, South America, North Sea, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through four segments: Floaters, Jackups, ARO, and Other. It owns an offshore drilling rig fleet, which include drillships, dynamically positioned semisubmersible rigs, moored semisubmersible rig, and jackup rigs.