Noble (NYSE:NE) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Fearnley Fonds

Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Noble (NYSE:NE) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Noble from $55.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Evercore set a $59.00 price target on shares of Noble in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Noble from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Noble from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

Noble Price Performance

Shares of NE stock opened at $40.93 on Wednesday. Noble has a twelve month low of $25.24 and a twelve month high of $54.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.02 and a beta of 0.92.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $719.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $697.98 million. Noble had a net margin of 4.88% and a return on equity of 1.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Noble will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Noble Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Noble’s payout ratio is 139.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Noble news, SVP Joey M. Kawaja sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were 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 directly owned 40,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,539.35. This represents a 49.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Al J. Hirshberg sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.62, for a total transaction of $263,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 27,803 shares in the company, valued at $1,462,993.86. This represents a 15.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 125,724 shares of company stock valued at $6,049,266 in the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Noble by 44.4% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC purchased a new position in Noble during the 1st quarter worth $308,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Noble by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Noble by 43.7% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in Noble during the 1st quarter valued at about $218,000. 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.