Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Transocean (NYSE:RIG)

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 41,673 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 53% compared to the typical volume of 27,307 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on RIG shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Transocean from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Transocean from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Barclays upgraded Transocean from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $6.00 to $8.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Transocean from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.82.

Transocean Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:RIG traded up $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $5.21. 23,268,278 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 40,227,109. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Transocean has a 52-week low of $2.76 and a 52-week high of $7.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s fifty day moving average is $5.47 and its 200-day moving average is $5.89.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.10). Transocean had a positive return on equity of 0.88% and a negative net margin of 66.79%.The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.10) EPS. Transocean’s revenue was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Transocean will post 0.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Transocean news, Director Chad C. Deaton bought 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.95 per share, for a total transaction of $173,250.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 237,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,175,233.95. The trade was a 17.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 9.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Transocean

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Transocean by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,085,842 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $8,615,000 after buying an additional 523,528 shares during the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in Transocean during the fourth quarter valued at $2,338,000. Elliott Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in Transocean in the first quarter worth $103,606,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $323,682,000 after acquiring an additional 5,349,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rokos Capital Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Transocean in the first quarter worth $21,030,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Transocean Company Profile

Transocean Ltd. is a leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services for the oil and gas industry. The company specializes in the operation of mobile drilling units, including ultra-deepwater drillships, semisubmersible rigs and high-specification jackup rigs. Transocean’s fleet is designed to meet complex drilling requirements, from ultra-deepwater well construction to shelf exploration and development projects.

The company’s core services encompass the full spectrum of offshore drilling operations, including project and engineering management, marine operations, drilling supervision, and maintenance support.