Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) Shares Purchased by Empire Life Investments Inc.

Empire Life Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW - Free Report) by 29.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 293,884 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 66,528 shares during the quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. owned 0.56% of Tidewater worth $21,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TDW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Tidewater by 25.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,814,738 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $442,956,000 after purchasing an additional 985,398 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in Tidewater by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,323,725 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $214,055,000 after acquiring an additional 243,489 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Tidewater by 11,317.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 645,418 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $60,992,000 after acquiring an additional 639,765 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Tidewater by 72.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 443,833 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $42,257,000 after acquiring an additional 185,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nationale Nederlanden Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Tidewater during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,898,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.13% of the company's stock.

Tidewater Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of TDW stock traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $58.82. 1,008,637 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,038,530. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48 and a beta of 1.15. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $71.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.90. Tidewater Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.53 and a fifty-two week high of $111.42.

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $339.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $331.85 million. Tidewater had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 18.04%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 57.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. Research analysts predict that Tidewater Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Tidewater announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 6th that permits the company to repurchase $13.90 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 0.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on TDW. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Tidewater from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Tidewater from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tidewater presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.25.

About Tidewater

Tidewater Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore support vessels and marine support services to the offshore energy industry through the operation of a fleet of marine service vessels worldwide. It provides services in support of offshore oil and gas exploration, field development, and production, as well as windfarm development and maintenance, including towing of and anchor handling for mobile offshore drilling units; transporting supplies and personnel necessary to sustain drilling, workover, and production activities; offshore construction, and seismic and subsea support; geotechnical survey support for windfarm construction; and various specialized services, such as pipe and cable laying.