Noble (NYSE:NE) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.14 EPS

Noble (NYSE:NE) announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.14), Zacks reports. Noble had a return on equity of 1.93% and a net margin of 4.88%.The firm had revenue of $719.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $697.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. Noble’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Noble Stock Down 8.8%

NE opened at $39.32 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.33 and a 200-day moving average of $44.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.28 and a beta of 0.92. 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 1-year low of $25.24 and a 1-year high of $54.98.

Noble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. Noble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 139.86%.

Insider Activity

In other Noble news, SVP Blake Denton sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were 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 $1,475,700.37. This trade represents a 50.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert W. Eifler sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.51, for a total transaction of $2,275,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,193,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,331,112.28. The trade was a 4.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 128,210 shares of company stock worth $6,176,251. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Noble

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NE. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Noble by 819.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 2,318 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Noble in the 1st quarter worth approximately $142,000. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Noble during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $359,000. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury acquired a new stake in shares of Noble during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,109,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Noble during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,935,000. Institutional investors own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NE. Wall Street Zen raised Noble from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Evercore set a $59.00 price objective on Noble in a report on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Noble from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Zacks Research cut shares of Noble from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Noble from $56.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.12.

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.