Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Strong Sell

Zacks Research cut shares of Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report released on Thursday morning,Zacks reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Tidewater in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered Tidewater from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Tidewater from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.33.

Tidewater Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TDW traded up $1.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $79.37. The company had a trading volume of 370,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 710,355. The firm has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.47 and a current ratio of 2.23. Tidewater has a one year low of $49.54 and a one year high of $101.57. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.92.

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 9th. The oil and gas company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.37). Tidewater had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 4.47%. The firm had revenue of $360.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $358.71 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.02) earnings per share. Tidewater’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Tidewater will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tidewater news, EVP Daniel Hudson sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.08, for a total value of $1,486,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 33,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,272,513.32. This represents a 31.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Kenneth Traub sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $990,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 63,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,288,579. This trade represents a 13.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tidewater

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Tidewater in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in shares of Tidewater by 35.9% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 492 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Tidewater by 142.6% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 740 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Tidewater by 34.2% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 781 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Tidewater by 37.3% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 766 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. 95.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Tidewater

Tidewater Inc. provides offshore support vessels and related marine services to the energy industry. Its vessels transport personnel, equipment and supplies between shore bases and offshore facilities, and support activities such as anchor handling, towing, platform operations and offshore construction. The company operates a diverse fleet that includes platform supply vessels, anchor-handling tug supply vessels, crew boats and other specialized vessels. These services help customers carry out offshore exploration, development and production, as well as certain renewable-energy and subsea projects.