Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) Stock Price Up 5.2% – Still a Buy?

Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) shot up 5.2% on Friday. The company traded as high as $83.68 and last traded at $83.7670. 38,465 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 95% from the average session volume of 733,915 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TDW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Tidewater in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Tidewater from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Tidewater from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.25.

Tidewater Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.58, a quick ratio of 3.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s fifty day moving average is $88.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.60.

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.03). Tidewater had a return on equity of 5.36% and a net margin of 18.34%. The business had revenue of $342.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $329.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Tidewater Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kenneth Traub sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $990,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 63,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,288,579. This represents a 13.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Samuel Rubio sold 17,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.56, for a total transaction of $1,621,069.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 33,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,041,073.84. The trade was a 34.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 42,705 shares of company stock valued at $4,097,270 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in Tidewater during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Tidewater in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Tidewater during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Tidewater by 142.6% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 740 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Tidewater by 37.3% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 766 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. 95.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Tidewater

Tidewater Inc (NYSE: TDW) is an offshore support vessel operator that provides marine transportation and logistics services to the global energy industry. The company supports offshore exploration, development, production, construction and decommissioning activities, transporting personnel, equipment and supplies between shore bases and offshore installations.

Tidewater operates a diverse fleet of vessels, including platform supply vessels, anchor-handling vessels, fast supply vessels, crew boats, tugboats and vessels used for subsea construction, survey and other specialized offshore work.