Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

by · The Markets Daily

Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE – Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.6250.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Noble from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Noble in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Noble from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Noble from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays downgraded Noble from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Wednesday.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Noble

Noble News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Noble this week:

  • Neutral Sentiment: The company is mentioned in a MarketBeat roundup about dividend and defensive stocks, but Noble (NE) is not a featured pick in that piece — limited direct impact on NE’s near-term outlook.
  • Negative Sentiment: Barclays cut Noble from Overweight to Equal Weight while raising its price target to $41 (from $36), signaling a more cautious view despite the higher PT; the $41 PT implies downside versus recent levels and likely weighs on sentiment. Barclays downgrades Noble (The Fly)
  • Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on NE to $41 (from $33) but kept a Neutral rating — the higher PT is constructive on valuation but still implies roughly an 8% downside from recent levels, a mixed-to-negative signal for upside expectations. JPMorgan raises price target (Benzinga)
  • Negative Sentiment: Several senior Noble executives disclosed material stock sales this week (Blake Denton sold 23,255 shares at ~$43.50; Joey M. Kawaja sold 19,725 shares at ~$43.51; Jennie Howard, Mikkel Ipsen, Caroline Alting also sold shares). These filings show notable reductions in insider ownership percentages and can be interpreted as a near-term negative signal for investor sentiment. Insider sale filing (SEC – Blake Denton)

Noble Stock Up 1.1%

NE traded up $0.49 during trading on Thursday, reaching $44.75. The stock had a trading volume of 949,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,329,954. The stock has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a PE ratio of 33.19 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Noble has a one year low of $17.40 and a one year high of $46.31.

Noble (NYSE:NE – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $764.41 million for the quarter. Noble had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 2.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Noble will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Noble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Noble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Joey M. Kawaja sold 19,725 shares of Noble stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.51, for a total transaction of $858,234.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 80,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,484,019.74. The trade was a 19.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Blake Denton sold 23,255 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.50, for a total value of $1,011,592.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 79,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,447,853.50. This trade represents a 22.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,722 shares of company stock worth $2,459,090. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Noble in the first quarter worth $142,000. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Noble by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 540,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,435 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Noble by 819.1% during the 2nd 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. Hara Capital LLC raised its position in Noble by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 194,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,163,000 after purchasing an additional 9,116 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Noble in the second quarter worth about $359,000. Institutional investors own 68.14% of the company’s stock.

Noble Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Noble Corp. Plc engages in the provision offshore drilling services for oil and gas industry. It focuses on a balanced fleet of floating and jackup rigs and the deployment of drilling rigs in oil and gas basins around the world. The company was founded by Lloyd Noble and Art Olson in 1921 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

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