Zacks Research Downgrades Noble (NYSE:NE) to Strong Sell

Noble (NYSE:NE) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Evercore set a $59.00 price objective on Noble in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Barclays cut their target price on Noble from $56.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered Noble from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Noble from $55.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Noble from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.12.

Noble Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE NE opened at $43.21 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Noble has a 12-month low of $25.24 and a 12-month high of $54.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $44.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.22 and a beta of 0.92.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. Noble had a return on equity of 2.32% and a net margin of 7.17%.The company had revenue of $785.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Noble will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Noble

In other news, SVP Blake Denton sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.31, for a total value of $1,479,300.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 29,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,475,700.37. This represents a 50.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert W. Eifler sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.51, for a total value of $2,275,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,193,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,331,112.28. This represents a 4.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 143,550 shares of company stock valued at $6,985,436. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Noble

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Noble by 44.4% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Noble by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Noble by 77.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 630 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Noble by 43.7% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in Noble in the 1st quarter valued at about $218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

About Noble

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.