Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $6.96 and last traded at $6.96, with a volume of 1815758 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $6.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on RIG. Clarkson Capital downgraded shares of Transocean from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Pareto Securities cut shares of Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $5.25 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays downgraded shares of Transocean from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $4.50 to $6.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Transocean in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds cut Transocean from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Transocean currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $6.38.

Transocean Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.70 billion, a PE ratio of -2.20 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.52.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Transocean had a negative net margin of 73.52% and a positive return on equity of 0.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.09) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Transocean news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 78,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.36, for a total value of $498,433.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 268,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,704,639. This trade represents a 22.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Keelan Adamson sold 58,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total transaction of $293,435.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,222,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,110,910. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 159,903 shares of company stock worth $906,098. 12.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Transocean

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RIG. Monashee Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Transocean during the third quarter worth approximately $936,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Transocean by 37.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 818,781 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $2,555,000 after acquiring an additional 223,231 shares during the period. Trek Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Transocean in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,162,000. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Transocean by 2,662.3% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,562,314 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $4,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,505,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninepoint Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Transocean in the 3rd quarter valued at $18,720,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

About Transocean

Transocean Ltd. is a leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services for the oil and gas industry. The company specializes in the operation of mobile drilling units, including ultra-deepwater drillships, semisubmersible rigs and high-specification jackup rigs. Transocean’s fleet is designed to meet complex drilling requirements, from ultra-deepwater well construction to shelf exploration and development projects.

The company’s core services encompass the full spectrum of offshore drilling operations, including project and engineering management, marine operations, drilling supervision, and maintenance support.