Valaris Limited $VAL Shares Sold by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

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. decreased its stake in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL - Free Report) by 62.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure 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 also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Valaris during the first quarter worth $28,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Valaris by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 684 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Valaris by 518.3% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 622 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. bought a new position in shares of Valaris in the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Valaris by 1,027.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,353 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.74% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Valaris to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $50.00 target price (up previously from $47.00) on shares of Valaris in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on Valaris from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Valaris from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Valaris from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valaris presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.20.

Valaris Price Performance

Shares of VAL stock traded down $1.6870 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $44.2830. 1,724,155 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,762,805. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $46.63 and a 200 day moving average of $40.87. 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 Limited has a 52-week low of $27.15 and a 52-week high of $65.68. The company has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 1.17.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.45. The firm 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%. Valaris's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Valaris Company 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.