Zacks Research Downgrades Noble (NYSE:NE) to Strong Sell

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Noble from “hold” to “strong sell,” adding to a generally cautious analyst outlook on the stock.
• Other firms have also turned more conservative, including Citigroup and Susquehanna cutting price targets; MarketBeat shows Noble’s consensus rating is “Hold” with a $43.12 average price target.
• Noble’s latest quarter beat earnings and revenue expectations, but insider selling has been notable, with executives selling shares in recent months and insiders selling 143,550 shares worth about $7.0 million in the last quarter.

Noble (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on NE. Citigroup decreased their target price on Noble from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Noble from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Noble from $55.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Noble from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore set a $59.00 price objective on Noble in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $43.12.

Noble Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NE stock opened at $43.21 on Wednesday. Noble has a 12 month low of $25.24 and a 12 month high of $54.98. The stock has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.22 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.89.

Noble (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. Noble had a net margin of 7.17% and a return on equity of 2.32%. The business had revenue of $785.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.47 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Noble will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Noble news, SVP Caroline Alting sold 15,340 shares of Noble stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,967.50. The trade was a 65.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Joey M. Kawaja sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.85, for a total transaction of $1,994,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 40,071 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,997,539.35. The trade was a 49.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 143,550 shares of company stock valued at $6,985,436 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Noble

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Noble by 424.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Noble during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,902,000. Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Noble during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,935,000. Hosking Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Noble by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,140,328 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,203,000 after acquiring an additional 103,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sagefield Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Noble by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 182,844 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,164,000 after acquiring an additional 52,261 shares during the last quarter. 68.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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