Hosking Partners LLP Grows Position in Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW)

Key Points

• Hosking Partners LLP increased its holdings in Tidewater Inc. by 81%, owning 394,257 shares worth approximately $16.67 million after purchasing an additional 176,494 shares.
• Tidewater's board approved a $500 million stock buyback plan, which signifies the company's belief that its shares are undervalued.
• The company's latest earnings report showed $1.23 EPS, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.28, with a net margin of 14.62%.

Hosking Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW - Free Report) by 81.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 394,257 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 176,494 shares during the period. Hosking Partners LLP owned about 0.78% of Tidewater worth $16,665,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TDW. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Tidewater by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,306,313 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $126,180,000 after purchasing an additional 390,814 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Tidewater by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,551,729 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $84,888,000 after purchasing an additional 286,097 shares during the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Tidewater by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,582,328 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $86,569,000 after purchasing an additional 238,170 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Tidewater in the 4th quarter valued at $12,574,000. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Tidewater by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 624,236 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $34,152,000 after buying an additional 212,189 shares during the period. 95.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Tidewater Trading Up 1.0%

TDW traded up $0.56 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $55.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 793,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,085,646. Tidewater Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.17 and a twelve month high of $91.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $49.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 1.08.

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.95. Tidewater had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 14.62%. The firm had revenue of $341.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.28 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Tidewater Inc. will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Tidewater declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, August 4th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 21.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Tidewater

In other news, EVP Daniel A. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.56, for a total transaction of $575,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 75,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,373,754.16. This represents a 11.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert Robotti bought 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $42.05 per share, for a total transaction of $630,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,234,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 25,560 shares of company stock worth $1,074,858. Insiders own 6.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Tidewater from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Tidewater from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, BTIG Research cut shares of Tidewater from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Tidewater has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $69.00.

Tidewater 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.