CenterBook Partners LP Increases Position in Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW)

Key Points

• CenterBook Partners LP increased its position in Tidewater Inc. by 1,608.0% in the 1st quarter, owning 124,361 shares worth approximately $5.3 million after acquiring an additional 117,080 shares.
• Insiders have recently bought a total of 25,560 shares valued at over $1 million, indicating growing confidence in the company, while insider ownership is now at 8.33%.
• Tidewater announced a stock buyback program allowing it to repurchase up to 21.3% of its shares, totaling $500 million, signifying that the board believes its shares are undervalued.

CenterBook Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW - Free Report) by 1,608.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 124,361 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 117,080 shares during the quarter. CenterBook Partners LP owned approximately 0.24% of Tidewater worth $5,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TDW. Aegis Financial Corp bought a new position in Tidewater in the first quarter worth $8,527,000. XTX Topco Ltd raised its stake in Tidewater by 223.7% in the first quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 16,730 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 11,562 shares during the period. De Lisle Partners LLP raised its stake in Tidewater by 15.1% in the first quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 123,773 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $5,234,000 after buying an additional 16,200 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in shares of Tidewater in the first quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in shares of Tidewater by 5.4% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 53,176 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,248,000 after purchasing an additional 2,735 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Tidewater from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday. BTIG Research cut Tidewater from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Tidewater from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $69.00.

Tidewater Stock Up 0.7%

TDW stock traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $57.29. 695,610 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,045,867. The stock has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Tidewater Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.17 and a fifty-two week high of $91.40. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $48.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.21.

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.95. Tidewater had a net margin of 14.62% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The firm had revenue of $341.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $317.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Tidewater Inc. will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tidewater declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, August 4th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 21.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tidewater news, EVP Daniel A. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.56, for a total transaction of $575,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 75,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,373,754.16. The trade was a 11.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert Robotti bought 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $42.05 per share, for a total transaction of $630,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,234,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,979,941.85. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 25,560 shares of company stock worth $1,074,858 in the last ninety days. 8.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Tidewater Company Profile

Tidewater Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore support vessels and marine support services to the offshore energy industry through the operation of a fleet of marine service vessels worldwide. It provides services in support of offshore oil and gas exploration, field development, and production, as well as windfarm development and maintenance, including towing of and anchor handling for mobile offshore drilling units; transporting supplies and personnel necessary to sustain drilling, workover, and production activities; offshore construction, and seismic and subsea support; geotechnical survey support for windfarm construction; and various specialized services, such as pipe and cable laying.