Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) COO David E. Darling Sells 25,127 Shares of Stock

Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) COO David E. Darling sold 25,127 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.01, for a total value of $2,739,094.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 53,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,789,957.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Tidewater Stock Performance

TDW opened at $106.97 on Friday. Tidewater Inc. has a twelve month low of $42.61 and a twelve month high of $111.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 42.62 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $92.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.23.

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.40. Tidewater had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 11.73%. The business had revenue of $321.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $312.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 66.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Tidewater Inc. will post 4.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tidewater declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $48.60 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to buy up to 1.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TDW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Johnson Rice started coverage on Tidewater in a research report on Friday, February 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Tidewater from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Pickering Energy Partners initiated coverage on shares of Tidewater in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Tidewater from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Tidewater from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Tidewater by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,829,340 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $276,134,000 after purchasing an additional 30,740 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in Tidewater by 32,536.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,080,236 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $149,928,000 after acquiring an additional 2,073,862 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Tidewater by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,805,483 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $130,195,000 after purchasing an additional 31,292 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Tidewater by 1,294.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,064,896 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $75,682,000 after purchasing an additional 988,528 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in shares of Tidewater by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 635,763 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $45,183,000 after purchasing an additional 16,102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.13% of the company’s stock.

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.