Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Downgraded to “Hold” at Benchmark

Benchmark downgraded shares of Transocean (NYSE:RIG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

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

Transocean Stock Up 3.4 %

NYSE RIG opened at $4.26 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $4.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.26. Transocean has a 12 month low of $3.85 and a 12 month high of $7.63.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $861.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $862.25 million. Transocean had a negative net margin of 11.34% and a negative return on equity of 4.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.15) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Transocean will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Transocean

In related news, Director Perestroika acquired 1,500,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.13 per share, for a total transaction of $6,195,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 91,074,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,139,312.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Perestroika acquired 1,500,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.13 per share, for a total transaction of $6,195,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 91,074,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,139,312.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director (Cyprus) Ltd Perestroika acquired 2,000,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.23 per share, with a total value of $10,460,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 89,574,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $468,476,695.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 12.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Transocean

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Transocean by 0.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 429,950 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Transocean by 76.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 175,130 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its position in Transocean by 3.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 49,800 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in Transocean during the first quarter worth about $1,521,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Transocean by 214.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 260,710 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

About Transocean

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.