Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Shares Up 5.7% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shares up 5.7% — Transocean closed around $6.61 on Thursday with volume of ~9.02M shares (down ~81% vs. its average), while analysts remain mixed: two Buys, four Holds and three Sells, leaving a MarketBeat consensus of "Reduce" and a $6.38 target (BTIG recently raised its target to $10).
• Quarterly results mixed — Revenue beat slightly at $1.04B (up 9.6% YoY) but EPS missed at $0.02 vs. $0.09 expected, and the company reported a negative net margin of 73.5%.
• Insider selling amid heavy institutional activity — CEO and an EVP sold sizeable stakes (total 159,903 shares sold in the last 90 days, ~$906k), even as institutions increased positions—most notably Goldman Sachs added ~5.72M shares, bringing its holdings to ~12.15M; institutions own ~67.7% of the stock.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG - Get Free Report) shares traded up 5.7% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $6.57 and last traded at $6.6070. 9,024,896 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 47,446,484 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RIG has been the topic of a number of research reports. BTIG Research raised their price target on Transocean from $6.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Pareto Securities cut Transocean from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $5.25 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays cut shares of Transocean from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $4.50 to $6.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Transocean from $6.50 to $7.50 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Transocean in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Transocean presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $6.38.

Transocean Stock Up 4.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.38. The firm has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.08 and a beta of 1.40.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.03 billion. Transocean had a negative net margin of 73.52% and a positive return on equity of 0.41%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.09) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Transocean

In other Transocean news, CEO Keelan Adamson sold 58,687 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total transaction of $293,435.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,222,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,110,910. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 78,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.36, for a total transaction of $498,433.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 268,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,704,639. The trade was a 22.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 159,903 shares of company stock worth $906,098 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.27% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Transocean

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Transocean by 12.1% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 69,637 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 7,520 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Transocean by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 434,031 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 18,957 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Transocean by 88.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 12,151,817 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock worth $38,521,000 after purchasing an additional 5,719,637 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Transocean by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 159,347 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 9,527 shares during the period. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in Transocean during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $146,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Transocean Company Profile

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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