First Trust Advisors LP Sells 77,042 Shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its stake in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL - Free Report) by 84.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,516 shares of the company's stock after selling 77,042 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Valaris were worth $642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VAL. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valaris by 518.3% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Valaris by 395.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,475 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 1,177 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Valaris by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,758 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Valaris by 326.9% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 1,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Valaris by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,911 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.74% of the company's stock.

Valaris Trading Up 4.3%

NYSE VAL traded up $1.65 during trading on Monday, hitting $39.86. The company had a trading volume of 2,308,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,529,997. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Valaris Limited has a one year low of $27.15 and a one year high of $84.20. The company has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 1.09. The company's fifty day moving average is $35.18 and its 200-day moving average is $41.98.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.53) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($1.63). The business had revenue of $620.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $582.87 million. Valaris had a return on equity of 17.40% and a net margin of 15.81%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VAL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Valaris from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Valaris from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Valaris to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Valaris from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Valaris from $47.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.17.

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.