Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

Shares of Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $46.57.

NE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Noble Financial assumed coverage on shares of Noble in a report on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Noble from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Noble from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Fearnley Fonds raised Noble from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th.

Noble Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NE opened at $49.04 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 148.61 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Noble has a fifty-two week low of $27.67 and a fifty-two week high of $54.98.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The company reported ($0.57) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.80). The firm had revenue of $728.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.82 million. Noble had a negative return on equity of 0.76% and a net margin of 1.79%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.13) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Noble will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Shareholders 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 yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 25th. Noble’s payout ratio is presently 606.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Noble

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC bought a new stake in Noble during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,802,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Noble by 101.9% during 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 period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Noble by 2.9% in the second 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Noble by 4.1% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, McAlvany Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Noble in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,756,000. 68.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Noble

Noble Corporation plc (NYSE: NE) is an offshore drilling contractor that provides drilling services to the global oil and gas industry. The company operates a fleet of offshore drilling units, including drillships, semisubmersible rigs and jackup rigs, which are used to explore for and develop oil and natural gas reserves beneath the seabed.

Noble’s services include contract drilling, well planning, project management and other related support services. Its drilling units are designed to operate in a range of offshore environments, including deepwater and harsh-environment locations.