NOV (NYSE:NOV) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $19.51 and last traded at $19.4830, with a volume of 5223228 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $18.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NOV. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of NOV in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Evercore ISI set a $19.00 price objective on shares of NOV in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NOV in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on NOV from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $16.00 price objective on shares of NOV in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.40.

NOV Stock Up 4.9%

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $17.13 and a 200-day moving average of $14.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.27 and a beta of 0.93.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.23). NOV had a net margin of 1.66% and a return on equity of 3.57%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NOV Inc. will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

NOV Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is 78.95%.

Insider Activity at NOV

In other news, Director Christian S. Kendall acquired 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $14.46 per share, with a total value of $1,012,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 85,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,242,822.54. The trade was a 438.90% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in NOV by 1,845.9% in the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 235,081 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $3,115,000 after acquiring an additional 223,000 shares during the period. Tejara Capital Ltd increased its holdings in shares of NOV by 33.1% in the third quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd now owns 670,199 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $8,880,000 after purchasing an additional 166,692 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of NOV by 239.0% in the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 141,506 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,875,000 after purchasing an additional 99,765 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of NOV by 111.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 476,044 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $6,006,000 after buying an additional 250,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH bought a new stake in shares of NOV during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,978,000. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

About NOV

National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) is a leading provider of equipment and technology to the oil and gas industry. The company designs, manufactures and services an extensive portfolio of products used in drilling, completion and production operations. Its offerings include drilling rigs and related components, wellbore technologies such as tubulars and completion tools, surface equipment including mud pumps and blowout preventers, and aftermarket parts and services that support ongoing field operations.

NOV’s business is organized to serve upstream energy companies around the world.