Noble Corporation PLC (NE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 on March 19th

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share on Thursday, March 19th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th.

Noble has a payout ratio of 71.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Noble to earn $4.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 46.4%.

Noble Price Performance

Noble stock traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $45.08. The company had a trading volume of 178,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,290,611. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Noble has a 12-month low of $17.40 and a 12-month high of $47.44. The company has a market capitalization of $7.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.37 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.65.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last posted its quarterly 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). Noble had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 2.34%. The company had revenue of $764.41 million during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. Noble’s quarterly revenue was down 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Noble will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Noble

In other Noble news, CFO Richard B. Barker sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.96, for a total transaction of $859,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 314,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,522,991.76. This trade represents a 5.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Alting sold 4,195 shares of Noble stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.60, for a total value of $182,902.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 23,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,025,036. This represents a 15.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 78,805 shares of company stock valued at $3,411,254 in the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Noble by 156.4% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in Noble in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Noble by 77.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Noble by 819.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 2,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new position in Noble during the 1st quarter worth approximately $142,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.