Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Stock Rating Upgraded by Barclays

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) was upgraded by investment analysts at Barclays from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $8.00 price target on the offshore drilling services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $6.00. Barclays‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 25.29% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Fearnley Fonds downgraded shares of Transocean from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Transocean from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Pareto Securities downgraded shares of 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. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Transocean from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.96.

Transocean Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of NYSE RIG opened at $6.39 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.14 and a beta of 1.34. Transocean has a 52-week low of $2.34 and a 52-week high of $7.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.54. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $6.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.16.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.10). Transocean had a negative net margin of 66.79% and a positive return on equity of 0.88%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.10) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Transocean will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Transocean

In other news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 78,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.36, for a total value of $498,433.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 268,025 shares in the company, valued at $1,704,639. This represents a 22.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Transocean

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RIG. Fruth Investment Management grew its position in Transocean by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 90,378 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Annandale Capital LLC grew its position in Transocean by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Annandale Capital LLC now owns 16,600 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Transocean by 9.0% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 35,604 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 2,932 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in Transocean by 3.5% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 100,634 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 3,367 shares during the period. Finally, Townsend & Associates Inc grew its position in Transocean by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 29,000 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. 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.