Transocean Soars

I had been looking at Transocean ($RIG) as a possible candidate for next year’s Buy List. Unfortunately, a lot of RIG’s big discount evaporated over the past few days.

The company said Monday that it has agreed to support a dividend of $3 per share and reduce the size of its board. It is also looking to boost margins by $800 million through cost-cutting efforts and other measures. Transocean’s stock jumped 3.8% to $55.47 in early Monday trading.

Icahn, a minority shareholder in Transocean, had previously pushed for a $4 per share dividend but Transocean’s shareholders rejected it. Icahn, known for shaking up companies in which he invests, had also wanted several board changes.

Transocean isn’t out of the running for the Buy List, but its candidacy obviously isn’t as strong.

Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on November 11th, 2013 at 5:22 pm

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