Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) shares gapped down prior to trading on Monday after Benchmark downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $4.30, but opened at $4.19. Transocean shares last traded at $4.18, with a volume of 2,042,453 shares changing hands.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Transocean from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. DNB Markets raised Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. StockNews.com raised Transocean to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Transocean from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered Transocean from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Transocean presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.88.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Transocean

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Transocean by 76.9% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 402,839 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $2,530,000 after purchasing an additional 175,130 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Transocean by 3.6% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,437,730 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $9,029,000 after purchasing an additional 49,800 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in Transocean in the first quarter worth approximately $1,521,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Transocean by 214.3% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 382,362 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $2,046,000 after purchasing an additional 260,710 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Transocean Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.90 and a beta of 2.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.27. 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 (NYSE:RIG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $861.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.25 million. Transocean had a negative return on equity of 4.76% and a negative net margin of 11.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.15) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Transocean Ltd. will post -0.18 EPS for the current 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.