Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Cut to Hold at Clarkson Capital

Clarkson Capital lowered shares of Transocean (NYSE:RIG) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on RIG. Citigroup increased their price objective on Transocean from $4.25 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. BTIG Research upped their target price on Transocean from $6.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Transocean in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Transocean from $6.50 to $7.50 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $6.38.

Transocean Price Performance

RIG stock opened at $6.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.98 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $5.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Transocean has a 12-month low of $1.97 and a 12-month high of $6.96.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Transocean had a positive return on equity of 0.41% and a negative net margin of 73.52%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.09) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Transocean will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Keelan Adamson sold 58,687 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total transaction of $293,435.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,222,182 shares in the company, valued at $6,110,910. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 78,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.36, for a total value of $498,433.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 268,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,704,639. The trade was a 22.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 159,903 shares of company stock worth $906,098 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Transocean

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its position in shares of Transocean by 22,432.1% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 6,309 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 6,281 shares during the period. Josh Arnold Investment Consultant LLC purchased a new position in Transocean during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Transocean during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Transocean during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Transocean in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

About Transocean

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.