Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Diamond Offshore Drilling (NYSE:DO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Monday, Zacks.com reports. Zacks Investment Research currently has $7.00 price objective on the offshore drilling services provider’s stock.
According to Zacks, “Diamond Offshore’s technologically advanced and versatile drilling fleet enables it to stay ahead of its peers in markets in which rig demand is expected to surge through 2025. Markedly, the company has a total contracted backlog of $1.8 billion, reflecting more than 20 rig years of work. Also, its excellent financial health is appreciable. Notably, it beat earnings estimates in third quarter 2019 aided by higher rig utilization and two offshore rigs’ startup. However, explorers kick-started 2019 with conservative capital, as they are more bothered about profit growth than oil production. This is likely to hurt short-term demand for drilling, in turn hurting the company. Moreover, its top line has been contracting over the past eight years. Its reduced EBITDA margin is also concerning. As such, the stock warrants a cautious stance.”
Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Diamond Offshore Drilling from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. HSBC set a $11.00 price target on Diamond Offshore Drilling and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Diamond Offshore Drilling from $5.00 to $3.50 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. ValuEngine lowered Diamond Offshore Drilling from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Nordea Equity Research upgraded Diamond Offshore Drilling from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $8.30.
Shares of NYSE:DO traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $6.04. The company had a trading volume of 1,780,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,844,605. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Diamond Offshore Drilling has a 1-year low of $4.77 and a 1-year high of $15.00. The firm has a market cap of $835.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.16 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.55.
Diamond Offshore Drilling (NYSE:DO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.67) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of ($0.68) by $0.01. Diamond Offshore Drilling had a negative return on equity of 10.44% and a negative net margin of 38.60%. The business had revenue of $254.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.26) EPS. Diamond Offshore Drilling’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Diamond Offshore Drilling will post -2.82 EPS for the current year.
In other Diamond Offshore Drilling news, CFO Scott Lee Kornblau sold 5,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.69, for a total transaction of $50,567.11. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Diamond Offshore Drilling by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 152,100 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 7,212 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department raised its stake in shares of Diamond Offshore Drilling by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 28,759 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,261 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Diamond Offshore Drilling by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 213,484 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 14,674 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Diamond Offshore Drilling by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 1,156,985 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $6,431,000 after purchasing an additional 171,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundation Resource Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Diamond Offshore Drilling by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Foundation Resource Management Inc. now owns 330,487 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 5,211 shares in the last quarter.
About Diamond Offshore Drilling
Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc provides contract drilling services to the energy industry worldwide. The company operates a fleet of 17 offshore drilling rigs, including 4 drillships and 13 semisubmersible rigs. It serves independent oil and gas companies, and government-owned oil companies. The company was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
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