Seadrill (NYSE:SDRL) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Seadrill Limited (NYSE:SDRL) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after Citigroup upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a neutral rating. The stock had previously closed at $42.40, but opened at $44.14. Citigroup now has a $46.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $32.00. Seadrill shares last traded at $44.0910, with a volume of 300,373 shares traded.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on SDRL. Zacks Research lowered Seadrill from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered Seadrill from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on Seadrill from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on Seadrill from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, BWS Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Seadrill in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SDRL. Schf GPE LLC purchased a new position in Seadrill during the second quarter worth about $60,132,000. Elliott Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Seadrill by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Elliott Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,558,758 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $157,733,000 after buying an additional 855,012 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Seadrill by 77.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,419,059 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $37,256,000 after buying an additional 617,521 shares during the last quarter. Thomist Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Seadrill by 44.6% in the fourth quarter. Thomist Capital Management LP now owns 1,835,718 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $63,387,000 after acquiring an additional 566,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Seadrill by 498.2% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 614,849 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $16,140,000 after acquiring an additional 512,074 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.67% of the company’s stock.

Seadrill Stock Up 3.0%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of -35.24 and a beta of 1.45.

Seadrill (NYSE:SDRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.05. Seadrill had a negative net margin of 5.36% and a negative return on equity of 2.07%. The firm had revenue of $362.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $335.36 million. Equities research analysts predict that Seadrill Limited will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Seadrill

Seadrill Limited, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SDRL, is a leading provider of offshore drilling services to the global oil and gas industry. The company specializes in the design, construction, deployment and operation of mobile offshore drilling units, serving major exploration and production companies with turnkey drilling solutions.

Seadrill’s fleet comprises ultra-deepwater drillships, semi-submersible rigs and high-specification jack-up units capable of operating in some of the world’s most challenging offshore environments.