Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $4.50 to $5.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Transocean traded as high as $6.96 and last traded at $6.8040, with a volume of 9093202 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $6.52.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Pareto Securities cut Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $5.25 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. BTIG Research increased their price target on Transocean from $6.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Barclays cut Transocean from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $4.50 to $6.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Transocean from $4.25 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $5.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Transocean news, insider Jeremy D. Thigpen sold 500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.32, for a total value of $2,160,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,136,223 shares in the company, valued at $9,228,483.36. This represents a 18.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Thaddeus Vayda sold 30,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.29, for a total transaction of $128,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 235,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,008,810.66. This trade represents a 11.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 712,970 shares of company stock worth $3,152,132 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Transocean

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fruth Investment Management boosted its stake in Transocean by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 90,378 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Annandale Capital LLC raised its holdings in Transocean by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Annandale Capital LLC now owns 16,600 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Transocean by 9.0% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 35,604 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,932 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Transocean by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 100,634 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 3,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in Transocean by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 27,350 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Transocean Trading Down 2.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.02 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.00.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.07). Transocean had a positive return on equity of 0.41% and a negative net margin of 73.52%.The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

About Transocean

Transocean Ltd. is a leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services for the oil and gas industry. The company specializes in the operation of mobile drilling units, including ultra-deepwater drillships, semisubmersible rigs and high-specification jackup rigs. Transocean’s fleet is designed to meet complex drilling requirements, from ultra-deepwater well construction to shelf exploration and development projects.

The company’s core services encompass the full spectrum of offshore drilling operations, including project and engineering management, marine operations, drilling supervision, and maintenance support.