Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Given “Buy” Rating at Benchmark

Benchmark reiterated their buy rating on shares of Transocean (NYSE:RIG) in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a $12.00 price target on the offshore drilling services provider’s stock.

RIG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Transocean from $7.50 to $9.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Transocean from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, August 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on Transocean from $9.50 to $10.50 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, September 12th. StockNews.com raised Transocean to a sell rating in a report on Friday, June 16th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their target price on Transocean from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $8.38.

Transocean Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RIG opened at $8.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.01 and a beta of 2.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Transocean has a 1-year low of $2.33 and a 1-year high of $8.88. The business’s 50 day moving average is $8.23 and its 200-day moving average is $6.99.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 31st. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $729.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $732.58 million. Transocean had a negative return on equity of 7.32% and a negative net margin of 37.68%. Transocean’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.10) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Transocean will post -0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Transocean news, CAO David A. Tonnel sold 57,259 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.22, for a total transaction of $470,668.98. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 417,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,434,225.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Transocean news, CAO David A. Tonnel sold 57,259 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.22, for a total transaction of $470,668.98. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 417,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,434,225.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Mark-Anthony Lovell Mey sold 396,170 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.50, for a total value of $3,367,445.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 984,317 shares in the company, valued at $8,366,694.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 455,183 shares of company stock valued at $3,853,479. 13.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Transocean by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 100,550 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $639,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in Transocean by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 32,525 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 1,775 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Transocean by 31.0% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,545 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,784 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in Transocean by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 79,464 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 1,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Southern Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Transocean by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Southern Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,500 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. 66.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Transocean

Transocean Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells worldwide. It contracts its mobile offshore drilling rigs, related equipment, and work crews to drill oil and gas wells. It serves integrated energy companies, government-owned or government-controlled energy companies, and other independent energy companies.