Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Trading 3.7% Higher – Still a Buy?

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) shares shot up 3.7% on Monday . The company traded as high as $2.26 and last traded at $2.25. 6,674,160 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 22,781,105 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI cut Transocean from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $6.00 to $5.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Transocean from $4.00 to $3.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Transocean from $6.50 to $5.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. SEB Equity Research set a $2.80 target price on Transocean in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Transocean from $4.50 to $3.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.98.

Transocean Trading Up 7.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.18, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.29.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.85, for a total value of $84,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 313,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,205,327.20. This represents a 6.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 13.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Transocean

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of RIG. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Transocean by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 19,257,437 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $72,215,000 after purchasing an additional 6,542,271 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Transocean during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $16,608,000. SIR Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Transocean during the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,976,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Transocean by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 15,393,873 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $57,727,000 after buying an additional 3,895,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Transocean in the fourth quarter valued at $11,156,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Transocean

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.