Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) Stock Price Up 5.2% – Time to Buy?

Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) shares rose 5.2% on Friday. The stock traded as high as $83.68 and last traded at $83.7670. Approximately 38,465 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 95% from the average session volume of 733,915 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.61.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Tidewater in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Tidewater from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Tidewater from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.25.

Tidewater Trading Up 6.2%

The firm has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.60. The company has a quick ratio of 3.47, a current ratio of 3.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.03). Tidewater had a net margin of 18.34% and a return on equity of 5.36%. The business had revenue of $342.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $329.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Tidewater’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Tidewater Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Samuel Rubio sold 17,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.56, for a total transaction of $1,621,069.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 33,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,041,073.84. This trade represents a 34.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kenneth Traub sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $990,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 63,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,288,579. This represents a 13.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 42,705 shares of company stock worth $4,097,270 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tidewater

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TDW. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Tidewater in the second quarter worth about $503,200,000. Robotti Robert acquired a new stake in Tidewater during the 2nd quarter worth about $193,652,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Tidewater in the second quarter worth about $28,293,000. Old West Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Tidewater during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,238,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Tidewater in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $24,842,000. 95.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tidewater Company Profile

Tidewater Inc (NYSE: TDW) is an offshore support vessel operator that provides marine transportation and logistics services to the global energy industry. The company supports offshore exploration, development, production, construction and decommissioning activities, transporting personnel, equipment and supplies between shore bases and offshore installations.

Tidewater operates a diverse fleet of vessels, including platform supply vessels, anchor-handling vessels, fast supply vessels, crew boats, tugboats and vessels used for subsea construction, survey and other specialized offshore work.