Susquehanna Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Stock Price

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) had its price target dropped by analysts at Susquehanna from $7.00 to $6.50 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “positive” rating on the offshore drilling services provider’s stock. Susquehanna’s target price points to a potential upside of 46.07% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on RIG. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Transocean from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays cut their price objective on Transocean from $6.00 to $4.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Transocean to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Benchmark cut Transocean from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Transocean from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Transocean presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.63.

Transocean Trading Up 2.5 %

Transocean stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $4.45. The stock had a trading volume of 12,571,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,396,744. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of -5.88 and a beta of 2.79. Transocean has a 12 month low of $3.85 and a 12 month high of $7.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.07). Transocean had a negative return on equity of 1.47% and a negative net margin of 18.81%. The company had revenue of $861.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.15) EPS. Transocean’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Transocean will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Transocean

In related news, Director Perestroika bought 1,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $4.13 per share, for a total transaction of $6,195,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 91,074,894 shares in the company, valued at $376,139,312.22. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 13.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Transocean

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RIG. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Transocean by 1,748.6% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 245,861 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $1,544,000 after buying an additional 232,561 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Transocean in the first quarter worth approximately $197,000. Hosking Partners LLP boosted its holdings in Transocean by 19.6% in the first quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,238,019 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $7,775,000 after acquiring an additional 202,992 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Transocean in the first quarter worth approximately $146,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in Transocean by 23.9% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 506,105 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $3,178,000 after acquiring an additional 97,676 shares in 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.