Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 124,610 Shares of Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW - Free Report) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 836,253 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 124,610 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 1.60% of Tidewater worth $45,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of TDW. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Tidewater in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tidewater by 163.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 701 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in Tidewater by 187.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 814 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Tidewater in the third quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Tidewater in the fourth quarter valued at about $95,000. 95.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Tidewater from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Tidewater from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Raymond James lowered shares of Tidewater from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $131.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Pickering Energy Partners cut shares of Tidewater from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tidewater currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.50.

Tidewater Price Performance

Shares of TDW traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $54.46. 560,637 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 946,663. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $53.46 and a 200-day moving average of $63.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 2.19. Tidewater Inc. has a one year low of $46.50 and a one year high of $111.42. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02 and a beta of 1.04.

Insider Activity

In other Tidewater news, CEO Quintin Kneen bought 41,615 shares of Tidewater stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired 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 directly owns 176,239 shares in the company, valued at $8,470,046.34. This represents a 30.91 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 8.33% of the company's stock.

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.