Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $4.4750.

Several research analysts have weighed in on RIG shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their price target on Transocean from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $4.50 price objective on shares of Transocean in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Transocean from $4.25 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th.

Transocean Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE RIG opened at $4.03 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $3.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.37. Transocean has a one year low of $1.97 and a one year high of $4.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of -1.23 and a beta of 1.39.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of ($1,894.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Transocean had a positive return on equity of 0.45% and a negative net margin of 75.71%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect 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 57,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.50, for a total transaction of $260,856.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,303,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,866,717.50. The trade was a 4.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeremy D. Thigpen sold 500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.32, for a total value of $2,160,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 2,136,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,228,483.36. This represents a 18.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have bought 11,000,000 shares of company stock worth $36,460,000 and have sold 726,148 shares worth $3,115,783. 12.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Transocean

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jump Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Transocean by 156.2% during the first quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 1,489,600 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $4,722,000 after buying an additional 908,219 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Transocean by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 424,606 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 7,803 shares during the period. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in shares of Transocean by 53.4% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 82,475 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 28,705 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Transocean by 54.0% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 30,658 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 10,754 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its stake in Transocean by 114.0% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 2,424,925 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $7,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291,565 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Transocean Company Profile

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.