Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Lifted to “Sell” at StockNews.com

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

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

Transocean Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:RIG opened at $4.30 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Transocean has a 1 year low of $3.85 and a 1 year high of $7.96. The company has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.27 and a beta of 2.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $4.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.31.

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

Insider Activity at Transocean

In related news, Director (Cyprus) Ltd Perestroika acquired 2,000,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director (Cyprus) Ltd Perestroika acquired 2,000,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Perestroika acquired 1,500,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.13 per share, for a total transaction of $6,195,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 91,074,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,139,312.22. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 13.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Transocean

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Transocean by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,982,142 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $433,208,000 after purchasing an additional 429,950 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in shares of Transocean by 0.7% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 56,119,489 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $300,239,000 after purchasing an additional 375,450 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Transocean by 18.8% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 46,334,990 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $290,984,000 after purchasing an additional 7,320,672 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Transocean by 19.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,725,995 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $196,484,000 after purchasing an additional 5,856,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Transocean by 7.0% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,013,964 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $106,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,747 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by 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.