Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Transocean has a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" from 11 research firms, with three sells, five holds, and three buys. The average 12-month price target is about $6.82.
• The stock was trading up 1.1% at $5.20, with trading volume above average. Transocean’s market cap is about $5.8 billion, and the shares have traded between $2.53 and $7.66 over the past 12 months.
• In its latest quarterly results, Transocean reported a smaller-than-expected loss of $0.03 per share while revenue rose 19.3% year over year to $1.08 billion. The company also saw insider buying, including a director purchase of 35,000 shares.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $6.8214.

Several equities analysts recently commented on RIG shares. Clarkson Capital downgraded shares of Transocean from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Susquehanna cut their target price on Transocean from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen increased their price target on Transocean from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays raised Transocean from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $6.00 to $8.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th.

Transocean Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:RIG traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $5.20. 46,079,046 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 33,471,348. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.74 and a beta of 1.30. The firm's fifty day moving average is $5.97 and its 200-day moving average is $5.76. Transocean has a 12-month low of $2.53 and a 12-month high of $7.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Transocean had a negative net margin of 66.79% and a positive return on equity of 0.88%. The company's revenue was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.10) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Transocean will post 0.16 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Transocean news, Director Chad C. Deaton bought 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.95 per share, for a total transaction of $173,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 237,421 shares in the company, valued at $1,175,233.95. This trade represents a 17.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 9.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Transocean by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,085,842 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock worth $8,615,000 after purchasing an additional 523,528 shares during the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Transocean during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,609,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Transocean in the 3rd quarter worth $3,978,000. Clough Capital Partners L P increased its position in Transocean by 157.3% during the 3rd quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P now owns 3,958,053 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock valued at $12,349,000 after buying an additional 2,419,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ion Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Transocean by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,197,679 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock valued at $13,097,000 after buying an additional 297,679 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

About Transocean

Transocean Ltd. is a leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services for the oil and gas industry. The company specializes in the operation of mobile drilling units, including ultra-deepwater drillships, semisubmersible rigs and high-specification jackup rigs. Transocean's fleet is designed to meet complex drilling requirements, from ultra-deepwater well construction to shelf exploration and development projects.

The company's core services encompass the full spectrum of offshore drilling operations, including project and engineering management, marine operations, drilling supervision, and maintenance support.

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