Noble (NYSE:NE) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $50.49 and last traded at $50.3790, with a volume of 324924 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.87.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Noble from $32.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Noble Financial downgraded shares of Noble to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Evercore set a $45.00 price target on shares of Noble in a report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.63.

Noble Trading Up 5.6%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $41.33 and its 200 day moving average is $33.69. The stock has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a PE ratio of 37.34 and a beta of 1.07.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $764.41 million during the quarter. Noble had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 2.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Noble Corporation PLC will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Noble’s payout ratio is currently 148.15%.

Insider Activity at Noble

In other Noble news, Director Charles M. Sledge sold 2,083 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.63, for a total value of $92,964.29. Following the sale, the director owned 2,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,008.92. This represents a 49.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard B. Barker sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.63, for a total value of $6,994,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 164,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,683,738.03. This represents a 47.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 328,805 shares of company stock valued at $15,067,754 in the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Noble

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury acquired a new position in Noble during the fourth quarter worth about $1,109,000. Sagefield Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Noble by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 182,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,164,000 after purchasing an additional 52,261 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Noble by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 911,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,740,000 after purchasing an additional 24,725 shares in the last quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Noble during the 4th quarter worth approximately $824,000. Finally, Hosking Partners LLP raised 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 worth $32,203,000 after purchasing an additional 103,477 shares during the last quarter. 68.14% of the stock is currently 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.