StockNews.com Upgrades Transocean (NYSE:RIG) to Sell

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Transocean (NYSE:RIG) to a sell rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Transocean from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Transocean from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. DNB Markets raised shares of Transocean from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of Transocean in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $6.88.

Transocean Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of RIG opened at $4.30 on Thursday. Transocean has a 1 year low of $3.85 and a 1 year high of $7.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4.62 and a 200-day moving average of $5.30.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.07). Transocean had a negative net margin of 11.34% and a negative return on equity of 4.76%. The firm had revenue of $861.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.25 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.15) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Transocean will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director (Cyprus) Ltd Perestroika acquired 2,000,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $5.23 per share, with a total value of $10,460,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 89,574,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $468,476,695.62. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Perestroika acquired 1,500,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $4.13 per share, with a total value of $6,195,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 91,074,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,139,312.22. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director (Cyprus) Ltd Perestroika acquired 2,000,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $5.23 per share, with a total value of $10,460,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 89,574,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $468,476,695.62. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 13.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Transocean

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RIG. Caas Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Transocean in the fourth quarter worth approximately $147,000. Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Transocean by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Goehring & Rozencwajg Associates LLC now owns 633,074 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $4,020,000 after purchasing an additional 20,580 shares in the last quarter. Orchard Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Transocean in the fourth quarter worth approximately $109,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Transocean in the fourth quarter worth approximately $530,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Transocean by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 27,714 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 2,743 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Transocean

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.