Jefferies Provides Color on Oil Services and Equipment

Jefferies provided color on the oil services and equipment sector. In a research report published today, Jefferies named its top picks and made a number of rating upgrades. In the report, Jefferies states, “With the offshore drilling cycle finally starting to show signs of moving beyond a simple demand recovery and closer to one featuring real, albeit modest, pricing power, we believe the offshore drillers now represent the most attractive risk/reward opportunity in our universe. As such, we are reiterating our two favorite names (ESV and RDC) and upgrading several other offshore drillers, including ATW, NE, SONG, and RIG.” Jefferies' top picks are Ensco ESV and Rowan Companies RDC. On Thursday, ESV lost 1.45% of its value to end the day at $51.23, while RDC lost 0.71% of its value to end the day at $36.58. At the same time, Jefferies upgraded its rating on Atwood Oceanics ATW, Noble NE and Transocean RIG from Hold to Buy. On Thursday, ATW lost 0.41% of its value to end the day at $44.22. NE closed the day on Thursday at $36.09, down 0.91%. Its shares recovered some of their Thursday losses in today's pre-market trading, rising 0.47% to $36.26. Finally, RIG lost 0.07% of its value on Thursday to finish the day at $60.59. Its shares regained all of yesterday's losses in today's pre-market trading, rising 0.28% to $60.76.