Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC Grows Position in Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW)

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC increased its holdings in Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 486,808 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 126,441 shares during the quarter. Tidewater accounts for approximately 2.4% of Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s holdings in Tidewater were worth $26,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Tidewater by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,867,165 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $134,044,000 after acquiring an additional 35,318 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Tidewater by 42,719.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,394,207 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $76,277,000 after acquiring an additional 1,390,951 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Tidewater by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,092,887 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $78,473,000 after purchasing an additional 5,713 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Tidewater by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 836,253 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $45,752,000 after purchasing an additional 124,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Tidewater by 173.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 608,245 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $43,666,000 after purchasing an additional 385,779 shares in the last quarter. 95.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Tidewater news, CEO Quintin Kneen purchased 41,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $48.06 per share, for a total transaction of $2,000,016.90. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 176,239 shares in the company, valued at $8,470,046.34. This represents a 30.91 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 8.33% of the company’s stock.

Tidewater Stock Performance

TDW opened at $54.46 on Friday. Tidewater Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.50 and a 52-week high of $111.42. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $53.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on TDW shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Tidewater from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Pickering Energy Partners downgraded shares of Tidewater from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Tidewater from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $131.00 to $102.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Tidewater from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $68.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, DNB Markets started coverage on shares of Tidewater in a report on Friday, November 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.50.

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.