NOV (NYSE:NOV) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $18.30 and last traded at $18.2380, with a volume of 781363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of NOV in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NOV in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of NOV from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of NOV from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NOV currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.92.

NOV Trading Up 3.7%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $16.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.95.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.13). NOV had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 5.89%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that NOV Inc. will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christian S. Kendall acquired 70,000 shares of NOV stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.46 per share, for a total transaction of $1,012,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 85,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,242,822.54. The trade was a 438.90% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of NOV

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NOV. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of NOV in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of NOV by 114.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,109 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NOV by 395.3% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,660 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,921 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of NOV by 33.2% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,733 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in NOV by 123.8% in the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,379 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 2,975 shares during the period. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NOV Company Profile

National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) is a leading provider of equipment and technology to the oil and gas industry. The company designs, manufactures and services an extensive portfolio of products used in drilling, completion and production operations. Its offerings include drilling rigs and related components, wellbore technologies such as tubulars and completion tools, surface equipment including mud pumps and blowout preventers, and aftermarket parts and services that support ongoing field operations.

NOV’s business is organized to serve upstream energy companies around the world.