Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $6.3750.

RIG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays lowered shares of Transocean from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $4.50 to $6.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Transocean from $6.50 to $7.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup increased their price target on Transocean from $4.25 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds lowered Transocean from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th.

Transocean Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of RIG stock opened at $5.93 on Monday. Transocean has a 1-year low of $1.97 and a 1-year high of $6.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $6.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.88 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $5.21 and a 200-day moving average of $4.21.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Transocean news, CEO Keelan Adamson sold 58,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $293,435.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,222,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,110,910. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 78,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.36, for a total value of $498,433.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 268,025 shares in the company, valued at $1,704,639. The trade was a 22.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 159,903 shares of company stock valued at $906,098. 12.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Transocean

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RIG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Transocean by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,006,263 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $400,636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,487,015 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Transocean by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 43,470,312 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $179,531,000 after buying an additional 7,516,589 shares in the last quarter. Dalal Street LLC increased its position in Transocean by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Dalal Street LLC now owns 27,040,133 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $111,676,000 after buying an additional 2,597,801 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Transocean by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 26,456,554 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $82,544,000 after buying an additional 3,006,786 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Transocean by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,790,325 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $102,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135,964 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.