State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. Trims Position in Valaris Limited $VAL

Key Points

• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. reduced its stake in Valaris Limited by 62.5%, ending the first quarter with holdings worth $869,000 after selling 36,835 shares.
• Institutional investors own a significant 96.74% of Valaris's stock, with recent activity including GAMMA Investing LLC increasing their holdings by over 1,000% in the first quarter.
• Valaris reported an earnings beat with an EPS of $1.61 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and revenue of $615.20 million, showing a 0.8% increase from the previous year.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. reduced its stake in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL - Free Report) by 62.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,130 shares of the company's stock after selling 36,835 shares during the period. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.'s holdings in Valaris were worth $869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VAL. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Valaris by 1,027.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,353 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council raised its holdings in shares of Valaris by 33.1% during the first quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 47,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,863,000 after purchasing an additional 11,800 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Valaris in the fourth quarter worth approximately $875,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Valaris by 94.7% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 207,291 shares of the company's stock worth $9,171,000 after purchasing an additional 100,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valaris by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 143,399 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,344,000 after buying an additional 18,107 shares during the last quarter. 96.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Valaris from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $50.00 price target (up previously from $47.00) on shares of Valaris in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Valaris from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI cut their price objective 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. Finally, Fearnley Fonds downgraded shares of Valaris from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Valaris presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.20.

Valaris Stock Performance

VAL traded up $0.7780 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $45.0280. The stock had a trading volume of 1,469,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,409,021. Valaris Limited has a 1 year low of $27.15 and a 1 year high of $65.68. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $46.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.92. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 1.17. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $615.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

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.