Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on TDW. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Tidewater from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Tidewater from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Tidewater in a report on Friday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.33.

Tidewater Price Performance

TDW stock traded up $1.51 on Thursday, reaching $79.37. The company had a trading volume of 370,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 710,355. The company’s fifty day moving average is $83.41 and its 200 day moving average is $79.92. The company has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.47 and a current ratio of 2.23. Tidewater has a 1 year low of $49.54 and a 1 year high of $101.57.

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 9th. The oil and gas company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.37). Tidewater had a return on equity of 4.47% and a net margin of 19.42%. The company had revenue of $360.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $358.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.02) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Tidewater will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel A. Hudson sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.08, for a total transaction of $1,486,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 33,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,272,513.32. This represents a 31.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Kenneth Traub sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total value of $990,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 63,521 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,288,579. The trade was a 13.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 5.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Tidewater in the second quarter worth approximately $503,200,000. Robotti Robert purchased a new stake in Tidewater in the second quarter valued at approximately $193,652,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Tidewater by 4.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,838,769 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $153,623,000 after purchasing an additional 86,084 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Tidewater by 11.1% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,475,804 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $98,333,000 after purchasing an additional 147,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in Tidewater by 4,620.2% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 601,215 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $48,759,000 after purchasing an additional 588,478 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.13% of the company’s stock.

About Tidewater

Tidewater Inc. provides offshore support vessels and related marine services to the energy industry. Its vessels transport personnel, equipment and supplies between shore bases and offshore facilities, and support activities such as anchor handling, towing, platform operations and offshore construction. The company operates a diverse fleet that includes platform supply vessels, anchor-handling tug supply vessels, crew boats and other specialized vessels. These services help customers carry out offshore exploration, development and production, as well as certain renewable-energy and subsea projects.