Short Interest in Seadrill Limited (NYSE:SDRL) Decreases By 13.0%

Seadrill Limited (NYSE:SDRL) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 4,917,048 shares, a decline of 13.0% from the January 29th total of 5,649,322 shares. Approximately 7.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,340,098 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,340,098 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 7.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Seadrill Price Performance

NYSE:SDRL opened at $42.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $38.48 and a 200-day moving average of $33.75. Seadrill has a 52 week low of $17.74 and a 52 week high of $45.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.57 and a beta of 1.45.

Seadrill (NYSE:SDRL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $362.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $335.36 million. Seadrill had a negative net margin of 5.36% and a negative return on equity of 2.07%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Seadrill will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SDRL shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Seadrill from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Seadrill from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $35.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Seadrill from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Dnb Carnegie raised shares of Seadrill to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, BWS Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Seadrill in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Seadrill

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

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.