Empyrean Capital Partners LP Acquires New Stake in Transocean Ltd. $RIG

Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,570,463 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $30,302,000. Transocean comprises approximately 1.0% of Empyrean Capital Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Empyrean Capital Partners LP owned about 0.41% of Transocean as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fruth Investment Management raised its position in shares of Transocean by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 90,378 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Annandale Capital LLC boosted its position in Transocean by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Annandale Capital LLC now owns 16,600 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc boosted its position in Transocean by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 29,000 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in Transocean by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 24,175 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 4,026 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Transocean by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 24,497 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 4,043 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on RIG shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on Transocean from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays raised Transocean from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $6.00 to $8.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Transocean from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Transocean from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Transocean currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.82.

Transocean Stock Performance

NYSE:RIG opened at $5.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $5.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.86. Transocean Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $2.72 and a fifty-two week high of $7.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Transocean had a negative net margin of 66.79% and a positive return on equity of 0.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.10) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.13 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Chad C. Deaton purchased 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.95 per share, with a total value of $173,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 237,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,175,233.95. The trade was a 17.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.70% 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.