Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $2.77, but opened at $2.86. Transocean shares last traded at $2.98, with a volume of 1,866,628 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on RIG shares. Evercore ISI cut Transocean from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $6.00 to $5.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Transocean to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on Transocean from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Benchmark restated a "hold" rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Transocean from $6.50 to $5.50 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $5.75.

Transocean Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $3.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.17, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.72.

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Transocean (NYSE:RIG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 17th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.11). Transocean had a negative return on equity of 0.52% and a negative net margin of 14.53%. The business had revenue of $952.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $962.28 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 313,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,205,327.20. This represents a 6.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 13.16% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Transocean

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RIG. Pilgrim Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Transocean during the 3rd quarter valued at $77,473,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Transocean by 51.5% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 6,542,271 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Transocean during the 4th quarter valued at $16,608,000. SIR Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Transocean during the 4th quarter valued at $14,976,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Transocean by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 15,393,873 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock valued at $57,727,000 after purchasing an additional 3,895,880 shares in the last quarter. 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.