Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) Board Declares Share Buyback Plan

Key Points

• Tidewater's board has approved a $500 million share buyback program, allowing the company to repurchase up to 21.3% of its stock, indicating that the directors believe their shares are currently undervalued.
• Recently, Tidewater reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.83, outperforming estimates and showcasing a 12.98% net margin and a year-over-year revenue increase of 3.8% for the last quarter.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Tidewater, with recent downgrades from Raymond James and BTIG Research, resulting in an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $69.33.

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW - Get Free Report) announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Monday, August 4th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 21.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Tidewater Stock Performance

Tidewater stock traded up $1.31 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $48.84. 947,031 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 818,595. Tidewater has a 52 week low of $31.17 and a 52 week high of $91.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.07. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62 and a beta of 1.08. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $47.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.00.

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 9th. The oil and gas company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.24. Tidewater had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 15.97%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Tidewater's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Tidewater will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Tidewater from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. BTIG Research downgraded Tidewater from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $69.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tidewater news, EVP Daniel A. Hudson sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total transaction of $250,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 85,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,301,019.72. The trade was a 5.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Robotti bought 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $42.05 per share, for a total transaction of $630,750.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,234,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $93,979,941.85. The trade was a 0.68% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 25,560 shares of company stock valued at $1,074,858. 8.33% of the stock is owned by company 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.

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