Seadrill (NYSE:SDRL) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Seadrill Limited (NYSE:SDRL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $45.90 and last traded at $44.1320, with a volume of 1059519 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $44.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SDRL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Seadrill from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup cut shares of Seadrill from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Dnb Carnegie raised shares of Seadrill to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. BWS Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Seadrill in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Seadrill from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Seadrill has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.80.

Seadrill Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.32. The company has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.24 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Seadrill

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Seadrill by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,086 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Amica Retiree Medical Trust increased its position in shares of Seadrill by 13.7% in the third quarter. Amica Retiree Medical Trust now owns 2,942 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Seadrill by 11.7% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,615 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Seadrill by 18.8% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,521 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Seadrill by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 72,020 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. 95.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Seadrill

Seadrill Limited, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SDRL, is a leading provider of offshore drilling services to the global oil and gas industry. The company specializes in the design, construction, deployment and operation of mobile offshore drilling units, serving major exploration and production companies with turnkey drilling solutions.

Seadrill’s fleet comprises ultra-deepwater drillships, semi-submersible rigs and high-specification jack-up units capable of operating in some of the world’s most challenging offshore environments.