Noble (NYSE:NE) Stock Price Down 4.2% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Noble shares fell 4.2% to about $40.63 in mid-day trading, below both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Trading volume was 79% below the average session volume.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $44.71, though ratings range from “Strong Buy” to “Sell.” Recent target cuts from Barclays and Citigroup followed Noble’s quarterly earnings miss.
• Noble reported quarterly EPS of $0.01, below the $0.15 consensus estimate, while revenue exceeded expectations but fell 15.2% year over year. The company declared a $0.50 quarterly dividend, implying a 4.9% yield, although its payout ratio is high at 215.05%.

Shares of Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) fell 4.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $40.61 and last traded at $40.6260. 375,809 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 1,821,517 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Noble from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays dropped their price target on Noble from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Noble in a report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Noble from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds raised Noble from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $44.71.

Noble Stock Performance

The business's fifty day moving average is $42.65 and its 200-day moving average is $44.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a PE ratio of 43.54 and a beta of 0.92.

Noble (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.14). Noble had a net margin of 4.88% and a return on equity of 1.93%. The business had revenue of $719.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $697.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Noble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Noble's payout ratio is presently 215.05%.

Insider Transactions at Noble

In other news, Director Al J. Hirshberg sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.62, for a total value of $263,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 27,803 shares in the company, valued at $1,462,993.86. This represents a 15.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert W. Eifler sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.51, for a total value of $2,275,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,193,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,331,112.28. This represents a 4.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 125,724 shares of company stock worth $6,049,266 over the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Noble during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $142,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Noble by 819.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 2,318 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Noble during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $359,000. Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Noble during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,935,000. Finally, Hosking Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Noble by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,140,328 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,203,000 after purchasing an additional 103,477 shares in the last quarter. 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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