Noble

Noble: Noble traded below the 100-day MA yesterday, sliding 1.5% to close at $1.34. It traded to a low of $1.305 but managed to pare some losses in the last hour of trading. Macquarie maintains their top pick in the sector with an Outperform rating and TP of $1.60. Noble reiterated its expected end Sep / early Oct closing date for its Agricultural stake sale. From it, Noble will sport a US$4.3b cash balance post the sale of a 51% stake in its Agri division to a COFCO led consortium. As the division will be deconsolidated, headline gearing is set to drop to 29.5% at year end, down from 115.9% at 1H14. Management is looking to reinvest its capital into non-Agri areas it knows well and has had success in the past, Energy and Metals.