Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $91.60.

TDW has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Tidewater from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Pickering Energy Partners lowered Tidewater from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. DNB Markets began coverage on Tidewater in a research note on Friday, November 29th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI downgraded Tidewater from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $112.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Tidewater from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $131.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th.

Insider Activity at Tidewater

In other news, CEO Quintin Kneen purchased 41,615 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $48.06 per share, for a total transaction of $2,000,016.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 176,239 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,470,046.34. This trade represents a 30.91 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 8.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tidewater

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empire Life Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Tidewater by 29.6% during the 4th quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. now owns 380,890 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $20,838,000 after acquiring an additional 87,006 shares during the last quarter. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Tidewater by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC now owns 486,808 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $26,633,000 after buying an additional 126,441 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Tidewater by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 836,253 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $45,752,000 after buying an additional 124,610 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Tidewater in the fourth quarter valued at $368,000. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Tidewater by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 17,574 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $961,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.13% of the company's stock.

Tidewater Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:TDW traded up $1.08 during trading on Thursday, reaching $54.69. The stock had a trading volume of 373,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 991,157. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $52.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.98. Tidewater has a one year low of $46.50 and a one year high of $111.42.

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The oil and gas company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.08. Tidewater had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 13.92%. The firm had revenue of $340.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $339.65 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Tidewater will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tidewater Company Profile

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.