Transocean Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:RIG)

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 131,365 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 199% compared to the typical volume of 43,915 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on RIG. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Transocean from $6.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Pareto Securities downgraded shares of Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $5.25 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Fearnley Fonds cut Transocean from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Transocean in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Transocean currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $6.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Transocean

In other Transocean news, CEO Keelan Adamson sold 58,687 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total transaction of $293,435.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,222,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,110,910. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 78,370 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.36, for a total transaction of $498,433.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 268,025 shares in the company, valued at $1,704,639. This represents a 22.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 159,903 shares of company stock worth $906,098 in the last three months. 12.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Transocean

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Transocean by 22,432.1% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 6,309 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 6,281 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in Transocean in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Transocean during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Transocean in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Forteris Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Transocean in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Transocean Stock Performance

Transocean stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $6.72. 24,713,807 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 46,541,332. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Transocean has a one year low of $1.97 and a one year high of $7.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.44 billion, a PE ratio of -2.14 and a beta of 1.40.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.07). Transocean had a negative net margin of 73.52% and a positive return on equity of 0.41%. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Transocean will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

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.