Services and drilling company Hercules Offshore Inc. (NASDAQ: HERO) recently received some positive comments from two analysts, including an upgrade to Outperform today from Stephens. The company, mostly a shallow-water driller, also published its fleet status report today, showing a jump in average contract days for domestic U.S. from 174 in October to 232 in November.
Although much smaller than competitors like Seadrill Ltd. (NYSE: SDRL), Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG), Ensco PLC (NYSE: ESV), Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO) and Noble Corp. (NYSE: NE), Hercules is in a solid position to take advantage of new opportunities in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The company has the added advantage of not having any Gulf contracts with BP PLC (NYSE: BP), which may be unable to bid for new leases as a result of yesterday’s suspension of the company from entering into new federal contracts.
Shares are up about 43% in the past 12 months and are trading up more than 6% today, at $4.98 in a 52-week range of $2.91 to $5.57.
Paul Ausick
Take This Retirement Quiz To Get Matched With An Advisor Now (Sponsored)
Are you ready for retirement? Planning for retirement can be overwhelming, that’s why it could be a good idea to speak to a fiduciary financial advisor about your goals today.
Start by taking this retirement quiz right here from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes. Smart Asset is now matching over 50,000 people a month.
Click here now to get started.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
