Citigroup Cuts Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Price Target to $3.50

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) had its target price trimmed by Citigroup from $4.50 to $3.50 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the offshore drilling services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. SEB Equity Research set a $2.80 price objective on Transocean in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Transocean from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Transocean from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $6.00 to $5.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Transocean in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Transocean from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.23.

Transocean Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RIG opened at $3.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of -4.38, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Transocean has a 1-year low of $2.55 and a 1-year high of $6.88. The business’s 50 day moving average is $3.49 and its 200-day moving average is $3.93.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $952.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.28 million. Transocean had a negative return on equity of 0.52% and a negative net margin of 14.53%. Sell-side analysts predict that Transocean will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.85, for a total transaction of $84,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 313,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,205,327.20. This represents a 6.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 13.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Transocean

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Transocean by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,811,863 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $295,544,000 after buying an additional 931,684 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in shares of Transocean by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 56,342,169 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $239,454,000 after acquiring an additional 222,680 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Transocean by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 40,008,596 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $150,029,000 after purchasing an additional 809,864 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Transocean by 11.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,594,121 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $83,275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944,723 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Transocean by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 19,257,437 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $72,215,000 after buying an additional 6,542,271 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Transocean Company Profile

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.