Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest fell 15.4% in April to 9,674,235 shares (about 6.2% of shares short) with a days-to-cover ratio of 7.0 based on average daily volume.
• Significant insider selling: CFO Richard B. Barker sold 150,000 shares and insiders have sold 346,631 shares (~$16.0M) in the last 90 days, leaving insiders with just 1.5% ownership.
• Noble declared a $0.50 quarterly dividend (4.0% yield) and reported Q1 EPS of $0.26 that beat estimates despite revenue down 10.1% YoY, but analysts' consensus is a Reduce with a $44.38 target below the current share price.

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 9,674,235 shares, a decline of 15.4% from the March 31st total of 11,434,505 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,379,138 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.0 days. Approximately 6.2% of the company's shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Noble

In other Noble news, CFO Richard B. Barker sold 150,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total value of $6,994,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 164,781 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,683,738.03. The trade was a 47.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Alting sold 15,340 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.75, for a total value of $809,185.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,967.50. This trade represents a 65.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 346,631 shares of company stock valued at $16,003,924. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Noble

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NE. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Noble by 424.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 440,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,435,000 after buying an additional 356,333 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Noble in the 4th quarter valued at $4,902,000. Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Noble in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,935,000. Hosking Partners LLP raised its position in Noble by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,140,328 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,203,000 after buying an additional 103,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sagefield Capital LP raised its position in Noble by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 182,844 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,164,000 after buying an additional 52,261 shares during the last quarter. 68.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Noble from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered Noble from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays upped their target price on Noble from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Fearnley Fonds lowered Noble from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Noble currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $44.38.

Noble Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:NE traded down $0.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $50.55. 1,529,767 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,008,233. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Noble has a 1-year low of $22.04 and a 1-year high of $54.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $47.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.50. The firm has a market cap of $8.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.35 and a beta of 1.00.

Noble (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. Noble had a return on equity of 2.32% and a net margin of 7.17%.The company had revenue of $785.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Noble's revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Noble will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. Noble's dividend payout ratio is presently 139.86%.

About Noble

Noble NYSE: NE is an offshore drilling company that provides drilling services to the global oil and gas industry. The firm operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units and delivers contract drilling solutions for exploration and production activities. Its core business centers on executing drilling programs for upstream energy companies across a range of water depths and operating environments.

Products and services include the operation and management of offshore drilling rigs — such as drillships, semisubmersibles and jackups — along with associated technical, engineering and project management services.

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