NOV (NYSE:NOV) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $20.60 and last traded at $20.2590, with a volume of 4515965 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.39.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NOV shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of NOV in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NOV in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup lifted their price target on NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Evercore set a $19.00 price objective on shares of NOV in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of NOV from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NOV has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.36.

NOV Stock Down 2.3%

The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.07 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.37.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. NOV’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NOV Inc. will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

NOV Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from NOV’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.95%.

Insider Transactions at NOV

In related news, VP Craig L. Weinstock sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.08, for a total value of $1,405,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 256,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,146,885.52. This trade represents a 21.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Joseph W. Rovig sold 151,086 shares of NOV stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.17, for a total transaction of $3,047,404.62. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 269,694 shares in the company, valued at $5,439,727.98. The trade was a 35.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of NOV by 15.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 49,721 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 6,711 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in NOV by 35.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 161,927 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $2,465,000 after purchasing an additional 42,462 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in NOV by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,062,292 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $16,168,000 after buying an additional 157,385 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in NOV in the first quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NOV by 15.5% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 20,655 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 2,769 shares during the period. 93.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NOV Company Profile

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.