Traders Purchase High Volume of Transocean Call Options (NYSE:RIG)

Key Points

• Traders bought 82,690 Transocean call options on Tuesday, about 248% above the typical volume of 23,731.
• Transocean shares rose 1.1% to $5.22. The company met quarterly EPS expectations at $0.02, while revenue of $937 million fell short of estimates and declined 8.9% year over year.
• Analysts’ average rating is Hold, with a consensus price target of $6.61; recent ratings were mixed.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 82,690 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 248% compared to the typical volume of 23,731 call options.

Transocean Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of RIG stock traded up $0.06 on Tuesday, hitting $5.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,655,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,972,629. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 1.44. Transocean has a fifty-two week low of $3.68 and a fifty-two week high of $7.66. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $5.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02. Transocean had a net margin of 7.25% and a return on equity of 1.84%. The business had revenue of $937.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $943.99 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($2.00) EPS. Transocean's revenue was down 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Transocean will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Transocean during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Transocean in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new position in Transocean in the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Transocean by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,536 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Transocean during the third quarter worth about $48,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research cut Transocean from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Transocean from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Transocean from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Transocean from $7.00 to $6.50 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $6.61.

Transocean Company Profile

Transocean Ltd. is an offshore contract drilling company that provides drilling services to oil and gas companies around the world. Its work focuses on offshore exploration and development, particularly in deepwater and harsh-environment locations.

The company owns and operates a fleet of offshore drilling rigs, including drillships and semisubmersible rigs. It contracts these rigs to customers and provides the crews and related services needed to conduct offshore drilling operations.

Transocean serves customers across multiple offshore regions worldwide.

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