Raymond James Financial Inc. Boosts Position in Tidewater Inc. $TDW

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in Tidewater Inc. by 271.7% during the first quarter, owning approximately 0.60% of the company valued at $12.48 million.
• Tidewater reported $1.23 earnings per share for the last quarter, significantly surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.28, with a net margin of 14.62%.
• The company's Board of Directors approved a share buyback plan allowing for the repurchase of $500 million in shares, indicating confidence in the stock's valuation.

Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW - Free Report) by 271.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 295,337 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 215,891 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.60% of Tidewater worth $12,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tidewater during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,642,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Tidewater by 477.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,668 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 2,206 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Tidewater by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 283,950 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $12,003,000 after acquiring an additional 7,837 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Tidewater by 94,555.6% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 8,510 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in Tidewater by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 3,983 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Robotti purchased 15,000 shares of Tidewater stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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. The trade was a 0.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel A. Hudson sold 10,000 shares of Tidewater stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.56, for a total value of $575,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 75,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,373,754.16. This represents a 11.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company's stock.

Tidewater Price Performance

TDW stock traded down $1.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $58.82. The stock had a trading volume of 618,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,053,280. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $52.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24 and a beta of 1.09. Tidewater Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.17 and a 52-week high of $87.35.

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The oil and gas company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.95. The company had revenue of $341.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.28 million. Tidewater had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 14.62%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Tidewater has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Tidewater Inc. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tidewater declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, August 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to buy up to 21.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research cut shares of Tidewater from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Tidewater from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Tidewater from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Tidewater from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Tidewater currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.00.

About Tidewater

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.