Private Management Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Noble Corporation PLC $NE

Private Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 206,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,619,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC purchased a new position in Noble during the third quarter worth about $55,802,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Noble by 101.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,347,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,254,000 after buying an additional 679,981 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Noble by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 13,957,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $520,602,000 after buying an additional 395,316 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Noble by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,428,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,483,000 after buying an additional 215,799 shares during the period. Finally, McAlvany Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Noble in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,756,000. 68.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Noble Trading Up 0.1%

NE opened at $41.17 on Wednesday. Noble Corporation PLC has a 1 year low of $27.67 and a 1 year high of $54.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $44.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.76.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The company reported ($0.57) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.80). Noble had a net margin of 1.79% and a negative return on equity of 0.76%. The business had revenue of $728.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $713.82 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.13) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.11 EPS for the current year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 25th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 25th. Noble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 606.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NE shares. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Noble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Noble Financial began coverage on shares of Noble in a report on Thursday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Noble from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Noble from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.57.

Noble Profile

Noble Corporation plc, operating as Noble (NYSE: NE), provides contract drilling services to the offshore oil and gas industry. The company owns and operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units, including drillships, semisubmersible rigs and jackup rigs, and provides related services to energy companies exploring for and producing oil and natural gas. Noble serves customers in offshore markets around the world. Its operations support drilling in a range of water depths and environments, from shallow-water projects to deepwater and ultra-deepwater developments.