Seadrill (NYSE:SDRL) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Seadrill Limited (NYSE:SDRL) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $46.04 and last traded at $45.6540, with a volume of 272228 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SDRL. Weiss Ratings lowered Seadrill from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research cut Seadrill from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Seadrill from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Seadrill from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, BWS Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Seadrill in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

Seadrill Trading Up 2.9%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of -36.64 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.70.

Seadrill (NYSE:SDRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $362.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $335.36 million. Seadrill had a negative return on equity of 2.07% and a negative net margin of 5.36%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Seadrill Limited will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Seadrill

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SDRL. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Seadrill by 77.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,419,059 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $37,256,000 after acquiring an additional 617,521 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its holdings in Seadrill by 302.9% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 114,482 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,005,000 after purchasing an additional 86,069 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Seadrill by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 253,499 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,654,000 after purchasing an additional 13,231 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Seadrill in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,961,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Seadrill during the 2nd quarter valued at about $548,000. Institutional investors own 95.67% of the company’s stock.

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.