NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.3571.

Several analysts recently weighed in on NOV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on NOV from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on NOV from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on NOV from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on NOV from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NOV in a research report on Friday, March 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at NOV

In other NOV news, VP Craig L. Weinstock sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.08, for a total value of $1,405,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 256,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,146,885.52. This represents a 21.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph W. Rovig sold 151,086 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.17, for a total value of $3,047,404.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 269,694 shares in the company, valued at $5,439,727.98. This trade represents a 35.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NOV

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in NOV in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of NOV by 39.9% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,937 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its position in shares of NOV by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 2,030 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of NOV during the 1st quarter worth $40,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of NOV by 659.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,978 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.27% of the company’s stock.

NOV Stock Performance

NYSE:NOV opened at $20.81 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.62 and its 200 day moving average is $18.07. NOV has a fifty-two week low of $11.65 and a fifty-two week high of $21.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a PE ratio of 86.71 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.47.

NOV (NYSE:NOV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.12). NOV had a net margin of 1.05% and a return on equity of 3.34%. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NOV will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current year.

NOV Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a yield of 173.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. NOV’s dividend payout ratio is 150.00%.

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.