De Lisle Partners LLP Invests $824,000 in Noble Corporation PLC $NE

Key Points

• De Lisle Partners LLP opened a new position in Noble Corporation PLC, buying 29,186 shares worth about $824,000 in the fourth quarter.
• Noble’s latest quarter beat expectations, with EPS of $0.26 versus $0.21 expected and revenue of $785.69 million above estimates, though revenue was still down 10.1% from a year earlier.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share payable June 25, implying a 4.3% annualized yield; meanwhile, insiders sold shares and analysts currently rate the stock a Hold on average.

De Lisle Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 29,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $824,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Hosking Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Noble by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,140,328 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,203,000 after purchasing an additional 103,477 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Noble in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,902,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Noble by 424.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 440,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,435,000 after purchasing an additional 356,333 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Noble by 77.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Noble by 1.1% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 886,766 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,078,000 after purchasing an additional 9,442 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.14% of the company's stock.

Noble Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:NE opened at $46.92 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $49.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.64. The stock has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.81 and a beta of 0.89. Noble Corporation PLC has a fifty-two week low of $25.24 and a fifty-two week high of $54.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Noble (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. Noble had a net margin of 7.17% and a return on equity of 2.32%. The firm had revenue of $785.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $730.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Noble's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 139.86%.

Insider Activity at Noble

In other Noble news, Director Charles M. Sledge sold 724 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.61, for a total transaction of $37,365.64. Following the sale, the director owned 1,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $70,189.60. This trade represents a 34.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Al J. Hirshberg sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.62, for a total transaction of $263,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 27,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,462,993.86. The trade was a 15.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 343,550 shares of company stock valued at $16,366,436 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Noble from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Noble from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Noble from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Noble from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Evercore set a $59.00 target price on shares of Noble in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Noble has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $45.38.

Noble Company Profile

Noble NYSE: NE is an offshore drilling company that provides drilling services to the global oil and gas industry. The firm operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units and delivers contract drilling solutions for exploration and production activities. Its core business centers on executing drilling programs for upstream energy companies across a range of water depths and operating environments.

Products and services include the operation and management of offshore drilling rigs — such as drillships, semisubmersibles and jackups — along with associated technical, engineering and project management services.

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