Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) gapped down before the market opened on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $6.94, but opened at $6.65. Transocean shares last traded at $6.5950, with a volume of 12,437,847 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on RIG. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Transocean from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Fearnley Fonds raised Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Transocean from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.68.

Transocean Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.02. Transocean had a negative net margin of 40.24% and a positive return on equity of 2.60%. The firm had revenue of $966.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $956.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.06) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Transocean

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Transocean by 12.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 48,819,576 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $323,682,000 after acquiring an additional 5,349,264 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Transocean by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,148,850 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $132,758,000 after buying an additional 2,166,646 shares in the last quarter. Elliott Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in Transocean in the 1st quarter worth approximately $103,606,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Transocean in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,477,000. Finally, Ninepoint Partners LP purchased a new stake in Transocean in the second quarter worth approximately $34,230,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Transocean Company Profile

Transocean Ltd. is an offshore drilling contractor that provides drilling services to international oil and gas companies. The company specializes in ultra-deepwater and harsh-environment drilling, helping customers explore for and develop offshore energy resources.

Transocean owns and operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units, including ultra-deepwater drillships and semisubmersible rigs. Its services generally include contract drilling, rig operations, well-construction support, and related offshore drilling management.

With roots tracing back to the 1920s, Transocean serves customers in major offshore energy regions around the world.