Old West Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Old West Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 35,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,572,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VAL. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Valaris in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valaris by 395.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Valaris by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Valaris by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Valaris during the 4th quarter valued at $176,000. 96.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valaris Price Performance

NYSE VAL opened at $29.49 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.00. Valaris Limited has a 12-month low of $29.40 and a 12-month high of $84.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $584.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.01 million. Valaris had a net margin of 15.81% and a return on equity of 17.40%. Analysts forecast that Valaris Limited will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VAL shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on Valaris from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Valaris in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Valaris from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered Valaris from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Valaris currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.33.

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.