Noble (NYSE:NE) Hits New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• New 52-week high: Noble reached a new 52-week high of $50.49 (last $50.38), trading up about 5.6% with a market capitalization near $8.06 billion.
• Analysts' consensus is a Hold with an average price target of $38.63—well below the current price—though a few firms raised targets to $41–$42 and one analyst rates it a Buy.
• Fundamental and governance risks: Q4 EPS missed ($0.09 vs. $0.15) and revenue fell 17.6% YoY; the company pays a $0.50 quarterly dividend (~4% yield) but has a 148% payout ratio, and insiders sold ~328,805 shares (~$15M) over the past three months.

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $50.49 and last traded at $50.3790, with a volume of 324924 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on NE shares. SEB Equity Research set a $33.00 price target on shares of Noble in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Noble from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Noble Financial downgraded shares of Noble to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.63.

Noble Trading Up 5.6%

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.34 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Noble (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $764.41 million for the quarter. Noble had a return on equity of 2.34% and a net margin of 6.60%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Noble Corporation PLC will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Noble Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Noble's dividend payout ratio is presently 148.15%.

Insider Transactions at Noble

In related news, SVP Joey M. Kawaja sold 19,725 shares of Noble stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.51, for a total transaction of $858,234.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 80,074 shares in the company, valued at $3,484,019.74. This trade represents a 19.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert W. Eifler sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total value of $4,662,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,243,828 shares in the company, valued at $57,987,261.36. This represents a 7.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 328,805 shares of company stock worth $15,067,754. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NE. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Noble in the first quarter valued at about $142,000. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its position in Noble by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 540,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,351,000 after acquiring an additional 4,435 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Noble by 819.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 2,318 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC lifted its position in Noble by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 194,482 shares of the company's stock worth $5,163,000 after acquiring an additional 9,116 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Noble during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $359,000. 68.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Noble Company Profile

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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