Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Boosts Holdings in Valaris Limited $VAL

Key Points

• Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in Valaris Limited by 398.5%, acquiring an additional 68,867 shares for a total of 86,149 shares worth $3,382,000.
• Valaris reported a quarterly EPS of $1.61, surpassing estimates of $1.16, with revenue of $615.20 million, signaling a 0.8% year-over-year increase.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Valaris, with Susquehanna upgrading it to $52.00, while the consensus rating for the stock stands at "Hold" with an average price target of $46.20.

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its position in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL - Free Report) by 398.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,149 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 68,867 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV owned about 0.12% of Valaris worth $3,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VAL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Valaris by 55.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,300,577 shares of the company's stock worth $101,771,000 after acquiring an additional 821,304 shares in the last quarter. Condire Management LP raised its stake in shares of Valaris by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Condire Management LP now owns 2,618,678 shares of the company's stock worth $115,850,000 after acquiring an additional 665,718 shares in the last quarter. Moerus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Valaris during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $18,314,000. Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Valaris by 49.7% during the 1st 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. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Valaris by 942.1% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 381,463 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,502,000 after purchasing an additional 344,857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.74% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Valaris in a report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $50.00 price target (up from $47.00) on shares of Valaris in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Valaris from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Valaris to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.20.

Valaris Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of VAL traded up $0.7590 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $45.0090. 641,498 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,757,122. Valaris Limited has a twelve month low of $27.15 and a twelve month high of $65.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

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

About Valaris

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.