Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $1.21 Million Investment in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 17,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,207,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Valaris by 31.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,812,867 shares of the company's stock worth $285,889,000 after buying an additional 919,123 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Valaris by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 2,499,355 shares of the company's stock worth $187,402,000 after buying an additional 199,662 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Valaris by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,816,177 shares of the company's stock worth $136,177,000 after buying an additional 120,550 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Valaris by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,704,357 shares of the company's stock worth $127,792,000 after buying an additional 172,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Platinum Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Valaris by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. now owns 990,889 shares of the company's stock worth $74,297,000 after buying an additional 209,350 shares during the last quarter. 96.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. TheStreet raised Valaris from a "c" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Valaris from $107.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Barclays lowered their target price on Valaris from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Valaris to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Valaris Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE:VAL traded up $0.96 on Tuesday, hitting $69.12. The stock had a trading volume of 473,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 882,150. The business's fifty day moving average is $69.46 and its 200 day moving average is $68.11. The company has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a PE ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Valaris Limited has a 52 week low of $54.13 and a 52 week high of $78.92.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $483.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $484.00 million. Valaris had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 48.50%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Valaris Limited will post 4.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valaris Company Profile

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.