Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $5.75.

A number of brokerages have commented on RIG. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Transocean to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Transocean from $6.50 to $5.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Transocean from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered Transocean from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $6.00 to $5.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th.

Insider Activity at Transocean

In other news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.85, for a total value of $84,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 313,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,205,327.20. This represents a 6.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 13.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Transocean

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Transocean by 63.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 290,993 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after buying an additional 112,512 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Transocean by 335.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 196,699 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $836,000 after acquiring an additional 151,507 shares during the period. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Transocean by 8.4% in the third quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 106,950 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 8,300 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Transocean by 19.0% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 33,442 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 5,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc bought a new position in Transocean in the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Transocean Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RIG opened at $2.67 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $3.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.66, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.70. Transocean has a one year low of $2.65 and a one year high of $6.88.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $952.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $962.28 million. Transocean had a negative return on equity of 0.52% and a negative net margin of 14.53%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Transocean will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.