Noble (NYSE:NE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Noble (NYSE:NE) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Citigroup from $50.00 to $52.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 4.05% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Noble from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Fearnley Fonds lowered shares of Noble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. SEB Equity Research set a $33.00 target price on shares of Noble in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.63.

Noble Stock Performance

Shares of Noble stock traded down $0.95 on Tuesday, reaching $49.98. 295,422 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,990,050. Noble has a 1-year low of $22.37 and a 1-year high of $54.57. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.97 billion, a PE ratio of 34.92 and a beta of 0.94.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. Noble had a net margin of 7.17% and a return on equity of 2.32%. The business had revenue of $785.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Noble will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles M. Sledge sold 2,083 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.63, for a total value of $92,964.29. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,084 shares in the company, valued at $93,008.92. This represents a 49.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert W. Eifler sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total transaction of $4,662,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,243,828 shares in the company, valued at $57,987,261.36. This represents a 7.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 346,631 shares of company stock valued at $16,003,924. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Noble

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NE. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Noble in the first quarter valued at approximately $142,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Noble by 819.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,318 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Noble in the second quarter valued at approximately $359,000. Hosking Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Noble by 0.6% during the third quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,036,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,322,000 after buying an additional 5,685 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in shares of Noble by 663.5% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 36,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after buying an additional 31,415 shares during the period. 68.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.