Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $2.27 and last traded at $2.34, with a volume of 13815386 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $2.72.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on RIG shares. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Transocean from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $6.00 to $5.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Transocean from $5.00 to $4.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Transocean from $6.50 to $5.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Transocean from $4.50 to $3.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Transocean currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.03.

Transocean Trading Down 21.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of -2.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $3.30 and a 200 day moving average of $3.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $952.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.28 million. Transocean had a negative net margin of 14.53% and a negative return on equity of 0.52%. Equities research analysts expect that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Transocean

In related news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.85, for a total value of $84,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 313,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,205,327.20. The trade was a 6.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 12.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Transocean

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Transocean by 1.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 931,684 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Transocean by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 40,008,596 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $150,029,000 after purchasing an additional 809,864 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 valued at $83,275,000 after buying an additional 1,944,723 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Transocean by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 19,257,437 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $72,215,000 after buying an additional 6,542,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Transocean by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,245,298 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $73,307,000 after acquiring an additional 680,242 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.