Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Tidewater Inc. (NYSE:TDW) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 276,113 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,795 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.53% of Tidewater worth $15,106,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TDW. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Tidewater by 42.8% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 9,886 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 2,965 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Tidewater by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 93,682 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,725,000 after buying an additional 9,952 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Tidewater by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,852 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Tidewater by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 5,622 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 840 shares during the period. Finally, VELA Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Tidewater by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 23,832 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,711,000 after buying an additional 1,583 shares during the period. 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 Tidewater stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $48.06 per share, with a total value of $2,000,016.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 176,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,470,046.34. This trade represents a 30.91 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 8.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TDW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut shares of Tidewater from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $112.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Raymond James cut shares of Tidewater from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $131.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Tidewater from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Pickering Energy Partners cut shares of Tidewater from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, DNB Markets initiated coverage on shares of Tidewater in a research note on Friday, November 29th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.50.

Tidewater Price Performance

TDW opened at $47.84 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a current ratio of 2.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.94. Tidewater Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.50 and a 52-week high of $111.42.

Tidewater Company Profile

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.