Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Stock Price Up 5.8% - Still a Buy?

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 5.8% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $3.34 and last traded at $3.36. 16,404,614 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 22,258,683 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.17.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RIG has been the subject of a number of research reports. SEB Equity Research set a $2.80 price objective on Transocean in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Transocean from $4.50 to $3.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Transocean from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $6.00 to $5.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Transocean from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. 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. According to MarketBeat, Transocean has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $5.03.

Transocean Stock Down 21.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $3.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.72.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.11). The business 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Transocean news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 22,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.05, for a total transaction of $89,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 229,596 shares in the company, valued at $929,863.80. This trade represents a 8.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 12.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Transocean

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RIG. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Transocean by 20.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 99,114 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 16,812 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Transocean by 209.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 173,494 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 117,459 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Transocean in the 3rd quarter valued at about $68,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Transocean during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $889,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Transocean by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 152,149 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock valued at $647,000 after purchasing an additional 5,636 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

About Transocean

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.