Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) Shares Down 4.4% on Insider Selling

Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) dropped 4.4% on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $102.17 and last traded at $102.40. Approximately 234,176 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 760,248 shares. The stock had previously closed at $107.07.

Specifically, Director Robert Robotti sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.23, for a total transaction of $7,506,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,279,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,387,571.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert Robotti sold 70,000 shares of Tidewater stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.23, for a total value of $7,506,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,279,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,387,571.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Quintin Kneen sold 150,000 shares of Tidewater stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.01, for a total transaction of $16,351,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 501,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,692,279.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 564,972 shares of company stock worth $59,736,872. 8.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TDW has been the topic of several research reports. Johnson Rice initiated coverage on shares of Tidewater in a report on Friday, February 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Tidewater from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Tidewater from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Pickering Energy Partners started coverage on shares of Tidewater in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Tidewater from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.00.

Tidewater Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.64 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.74.

Tidewater (NYSE:TDW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.40. Tidewater had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 16.24%. The company had revenue of $321.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $312.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 66.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Tidewater Inc. will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tidewater announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 29th that allows the company to buyback $48.60 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to purchase up to 1.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tidewater

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TDW. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Tidewater by 71.6% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 39,145 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after buying an additional 16,338 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management acquired a new position in Tidewater during the fourth quarter worth $510,000. Anthracite Investment Company Inc. acquired a new position in Tidewater during the fourth quarter worth $3,101,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Tidewater by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,805,483 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $130,195,000 after purchasing an additional 31,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in Tidewater during the fourth quarter worth $25,322,000. 95.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Tidewater

Tidewater Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore support vessels and marine support services to the offshore energy industry through the operation of a fleet of marine service vessels worldwide. It provides services in support of offshore oil and gas exploration, field development, and production, as well as windfarm development and maintenance, including towing of and anchor handling for mobile offshore drilling units; transporting supplies and personnel necessary to sustain drilling, workover, and production activities; offshore construction, and seismic and subsea support; geotechnical survey support for windfarm construction; and various specialized services, such as pipe and cable laying.