Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Trading 4% Higher – Here’s Why

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) was up 4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $3.25 and last traded at $3.27. Approximately 3,062,960 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 21,800,805 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RIG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Transocean from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Transocean from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $6.00 to $5.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Transocean from $6.50 to $5.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Transocean in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, SEB Equity Research set a $2.80 price target on shares of Transocean in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Transocean presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.23.

Transocean Stock Up 3.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of -4.45, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.72. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $3.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 17th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.11). Transocean had a negative net margin of 14.53% and a negative return on equity of 0.52%. The company had revenue of $952.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.28 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Transocean

In related news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.85, for a total transaction of $84,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 313,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,205,327.20. This represents a 6.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 13.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Transocean

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its position in Transocean by 53.6% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 8,400 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 2,933 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Transocean by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,247 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 2,963 shares during the period. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Transocean by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. now owns 28,155 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Transocean by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,332 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 3,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Transocean by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 32,651 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 3,390 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Transocean Company Profile

Transocean Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells worldwide. It contracts mobile offshore drilling rigs, related equipment, and work crews to drill oil and gas wells. The company operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units, consisting of ultra-deepwater floaters and harsh environment floaters.