Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in Valaris Limited $VAL

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Valaris Limited by 20% in Q1, now owning approximately 3.89% of the company valued at $108.4 million.
• Multiple hedge funds have recently modified their positions in Valaris, with 96.74% of the stock owned by institutional investors.
• Valaris reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, surpassing estimates, with a revenue of $615.2 million that exceeded expectations of $582.7 million.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL - Free Report) by 20.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,761,369 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 460,792 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 3.89% of Valaris worth $108,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Condire Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Valaris by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Condire Management LP now owns 2,618,678 shares of the company's stock worth $115,850,000 after buying an additional 665,718 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Valaris by 49.7% in the 1st quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,131,601 shares of the company's stock worth $44,455,000 after buying an additional 375,466 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Valaris by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 818,461 shares of the company's stock worth $36,209,000 after buying an additional 88,160 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Valaris by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 813,871 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,953,000 after purchasing an additional 20,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moerus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Valaris during the 1st quarter valued at $18,314,000. Institutional investors own 96.74% of the company's stock.

Valaris Trading Down 0.3%

Valaris stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $49.16. The stock had a trading volume of 591,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,331,804. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 1.17. Valaris Limited has a 52 week low of $27.15 and a 52 week high of $61.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.81. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.98.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on VAL. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Valaris from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $50.00 target price (up previously from $47.00) on shares of Valaris in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Valaris from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Valaris from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Valaris in a report on Monday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.20.

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.