Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Seadrill (NYSE:SDRL) Stock

Seadrill (NYSE:SDRL) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Citigroup‘s target price points to a potential upside of 20.96% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Seadrill from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings cut Seadrill from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Seadrill in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Seadrill from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.20.

Seadrill Price Performance

NYSE SDRL traded up $0.62 on Friday, reaching $45.47. The company had a trading volume of 639,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 779,942. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of -156.79 and a beta of 1.17. Seadrill has a 12 month low of $28.65 and a 12 month high of $55.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $47.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.27.

Seadrill (NYSE:SDRL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The oil and gas company reported ($0.49) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.68). The company had revenue of $428.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $382.66 million. Seadrill had a negative net margin of 1.13% and a positive return on equity of 1.50%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Seadrill will post -0.30 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Seadrill

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SDRL. Hartree Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Seadrill by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hartree Partners LP now owns 140,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,254,000 after acquiring an additional 28,683 shares during the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management US LLC purchased a new position in Seadrill in the third quarter worth about $469,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Seadrill by 264.7% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 63,619 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 46,173 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in Seadrill by 91.5% during the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 32,422 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,448,000 after acquiring an additional 15,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Seadrill during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,816,000. 95.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Seadrill Company Profile

Seadrill Limited is an offshore drilling contractor that provides drilling services to oil and gas companies. Its work supports the exploration and development of offshore energy resources. The company operates a fleet of offshore drilling units, including drillships, semi-submersible rigs and jack-up rigs. These units are designed for operations in different water depths and offshore conditions. Founded in 2005, Seadrill serves customers in offshore markets around the world. Its business focuses on providing rig operations and related drilling services rather than producing oil and gas itself.