Third Avenue Management LLC Acquires 143,231 Shares of Valaris Limited $VAL

Key Points

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Third Avenue Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL - Free Report) by 33.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 569,839 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 143,231 shares during the period. Valaris accounts for about 4.5% of Third Avenue Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Third Avenue Management LLC owned approximately 0.80% of Valaris worth $22,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Dalal Street LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valaris during the first quarter worth approximately $56,046,000. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Valaris by 398.5% during the first quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 86,149 shares of the company's stock worth $3,382,000 after purchasing an additional 68,867 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Valaris by 244.2% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 115,211 shares of the company's stock worth $4,523,000 after purchasing an additional 81,737 shares during the period. Tejara Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Valaris by 2.5% during the first quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd now owns 115,220 shares of the company's stock worth $4,524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,815 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Valaris by 20.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,761,369 shares of the company's stock worth $108,412,000 after purchasing an additional 460,792 shares during the period. 96.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed 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. Barclays increased their price target on Valaris from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Valaris in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Valaris to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds downgraded Valaris from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valaris has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.20.

Valaris Trading Up 6.4%

VAL traded up $2.9730 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $49.1530. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,757,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,417,392. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $46.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.84. Valaris Limited has a 52-week low of $27.15 and a 52-week high of $65.68.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $582.70 million. Valaris had a return on equity of 12.36% and a net margin of 11.18%.The company's revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. On average, research 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.