Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Stock Price Up 4% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) rose 4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on RIG. Evercore ISI downgraded Transocean from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $6.00 to $5.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Transocean from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Transocean from $4.50 to $3.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Transocean from $6.50 to $5.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.23.

Transocean Stock Up 3.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of -4.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $3.46 and its 200-day moving average is $3.92.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Transocean

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new stake in Transocean during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Transocean by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 8,400 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Transocean by 96.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,841 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 4,826 shares in the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC purchased a new position in Transocean in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. purchased a new position in Transocean in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.