Transocean Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:RIG)

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 67,556 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 233% compared to the average daily volume of 20,260 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Transocean

In other Transocean news, Director Chad Deaton purchased 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $4.95 per share, with a total value of $173,250.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 237,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,233.95. The trade was a 17.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Transocean by 40.3% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 44,338 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 12,734 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Transocean in the 2nd quarter worth $2,613,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Transocean during the second quarter worth about $313,000. Beaconlight Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Transocean by 199.1% during the second quarter. Beaconlight Capital LLC now owns 977,964 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $4,782,000 after acquiring an additional 651,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantitative Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Transocean in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,407,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on RIG shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Transocean from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Transocean from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Transocean has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.68.

Transocean Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE:RIG traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $5.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,303,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,588,602. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Transocean has a 1 year low of $3.03 and a 1 year high of $7.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.53 and a 200-day moving average of $5.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of -2.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 1.34.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.02. Transocean had a positive return on equity of 2.60% and a negative net margin of 40.24%.The business had revenue of $966.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $956.64 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($1.06) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Transocean will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

About Transocean

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) is an international offshore contract drilling company that provides drilling services to oil and gas companies. Its primary business is operating mobile offshore drilling units under contracts that support exploration, development and production activities in offshore oil and natural gas fields.

The company’s fleet is focused primarily on ultra-deepwater and harsh-environment drilling units, including drillships and semisubmersible rigs. Transocean provides rig operations, drilling personnel, equipment and related services intended to help customers safely construct and complete offshore wells.

Transocean serves energy companies in major offshore drilling regions around the world.