Key Points
- Director Charles Sledge sold 724 shares of Noble stock on May 12 at an average price of $51.61, trimming his ownership by about 34.74% to 1,360 shares.
- Noble beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $0.26 versus $0.21 expected and revenue of $785.69 million versus $730.47 million expected, though revenue declined 10.1% year over year.
- The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, payable June 25 to shareholders of record on June 4, implying a 3.9% annualized yield.
Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) Director Charles Sledge sold 724 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.61, for a total transaction of $37,365.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,189.60. This trade represents a 34.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.
Noble Price Performance
NYSE:NE opened at $51.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.84 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company's 50-day moving average is $48.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.72. Noble Corporation PLC has a 12-month low of $22.37 and a 12-month high of $54.57.
Noble (NYSE:NE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $785.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.47 million. Noble had a net margin of 7.17% and a return on equity of 2.32%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Research analysts expect that Noble Corporation PLC will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.
Noble Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Noble's dividend payout ratio is 139.86%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have issued reports on NE. Barclays upgraded shares of Noble from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $50.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Noble from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Noble from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Noble from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, SEB Equity Research set a $33.00 target price on shares of Noble in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.38.
Get Our Latest Analysis on NE
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NE. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Noble during the 1st quarter worth about $142,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,318 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Noble during the 2nd quarter worth about $359,000. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Noble by 663.5% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 36,150 shares of the company's stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 31,415 shares during the period. Finally, Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Noble during the 3rd quarter worth about $343,000. 68.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Noble
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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