Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $4.58.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on RIG. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Transocean from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Transocean from $4.50 to $3.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. SEB Equity Research set a $2.80 price objective on shares of Transocean in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Transocean from $4.00 to $3.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $5.00 price objective on shares of Transocean and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th.

Transocean Price Performance

Shares of RIG opened at $2.62 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a PE ratio of -3.58, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $2.61 and its 200-day moving average is $3.42. Transocean has a fifty-two week low of $1.97 and a fifty-two week high of $6.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.02. Transocean had a negative net margin of 14.53% and a negative return on equity of 0.52%. The company had revenue of $906.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $884.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.03) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Transocean will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Transocean

In other Transocean news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.78, for a total value of $61,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 340,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $947,537.98. This represents a 6.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 12.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its position in shares of Transocean by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 8,400 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 2,933 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Transocean by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,247 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 2,963 shares in the last quarter. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. lifted its position in shares of Transocean by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. now owns 28,155 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Transocean by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,332 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 3,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Transocean by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 32,651 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 3,390 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Transocean Company Profile

Transocean Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells worldwide. It contracts mobile offshore drilling rigs, related equipment, and work crews to drill oil and gas wells. The company operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units, consisting of ultra-deepwater floaters and harsh environment floaters.