Brokerages Set Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) Price Target at $4.48

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $4.4750.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Transocean from $4.25 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Transocean in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $4.50 price target on shares of Transocean in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Transocean from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th.

Transocean Stock Performance

NYSE:RIG opened at $4.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.39. The stock has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.22 and a beta of 1.39. Transocean has a 1-year low of $1.97 and a 1-year high of $4.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of ($1,894.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. Transocean had a positive return on equity of 0.45% and a negative net margin of 75.71%.The business’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Transocean will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jeremy D. Thigpen sold 500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.32, for a total value of $2,160,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,136,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,228,483.36. The trade was a 18.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 53,769 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.86, for a total transaction of $207,548.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 247,072 shares in the company, valued at $953,697.92. This represents a 17.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 726,148 shares of company stock valued at $3,115,783 over the last 90 days. 12.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Transocean

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Josh Arnold Investment Consultant LLC bought a new position in shares of Transocean in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Blume Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Transocean by 125.9% in the second quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,560 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 5,885 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Transocean in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Transocean during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Verum Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Transocean in the second quarter worth about $28,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.