Noble (NYSE:NE) Downgraded to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Noble (NYSE:NE) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Noble from $55.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings cut Noble from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Noble from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on Noble from $56.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Noble from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Noble currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.12.

Noble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NE opened at $43.21 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.22 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Noble has a 52 week low of $25.24 and a 52 week high of $54.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.89.

Noble (NYSE:NE) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $785.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.47 million. Noble had a return on equity of 2.32% and a net margin of 7.17%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Noble will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. Noble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 139.86%.

Insider Transactions at Noble

In other news, CEO Robert W. Eifler sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.51, for a total value of $2,275,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,193,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,331,112.28. This represents a 4.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Joey M. Kawaja sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.85, for a total transaction of $1,994,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 40,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,997,539.35. This trade represents a 49.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 143,550 shares of company stock worth $6,985,436 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Noble

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Noble by 424.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 440,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,435,000 after purchasing an additional 356,333 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Noble during the 4th quarter valued at $4,902,000. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Noble in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,935,000. Hosking Partners LLP increased its position in Noble by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,140,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,203,000 after buying an additional 103,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sagefield Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Noble by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 182,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,164,000 after acquiring an additional 52,261 shares in the last quarter. 68.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Noble

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.