Seadrill (NYSE:SDRL) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Seadrill (NYSE:SDRL) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Seadrill in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Capital One Financial set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Seadrill and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. BWS Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Seadrill in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Seadrill in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.40.

Seadrill Trading Up 6.1%

SDRL opened at $49.72 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,657.33 and a beta of 1.22. Seadrill has a 12 month low of $28.10 and a 12 month high of $55.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $45.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.40.

Seadrill (NYSE:SDRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The oil and gas company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.18. Seadrill had a return on equity of 0.64% and a net margin of 0.07%.The company had revenue of $430.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $388.46 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Seadrill will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Seadrill

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tairen Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Seadrill in the 2nd quarter worth $2,330,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Seadrill by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,553,281 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $161,671,000 after acquiring an additional 326,835 shares during the period. Elliott Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Seadrill by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Elliott Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,719,085 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $214,718,000 after purchasing an additional 160,327 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in Seadrill by 91.9% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 71,916 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,272,000 after purchasing an additional 34,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foresight Global Investors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Seadrill in the second quarter valued at about $3,574,000. 95.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Seadrill Company Profile

Seadrill Limited is an offshore drilling contractor that provides drilling services to international oil and gas companies. The company operates and manages offshore drilling units, including drillships and semisubmersible rigs, for exploration, development and production projects in deepwater and harsh-environment locations.

Its services include contract drilling, rig operations, well construction support and related offshore services. Seadrill’s activities have historically covered major offshore energy regions such as the North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and other markets in the Atlantic and international offshore basins.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, Seadrill has expanded through fleet investments and industry transactions.