UPDATE: Pareto Securities Downgrades Transocean On Recent Price Share Run

In a report published Thursday, Pareto Securities analyst Andreas Stubsrud downgraded Transocean

from a Buy rating to a Hold rating despite raising the price target from $55.00 to $60.00. In the report, Pareto Securities says "Earlier this week, Transocean projected an additional USD 500m margin expansion by YE'2015 on top of the USD 300m projected in annual shore based savings. This is in line with our estimates, and highly realistic with room for further cost reductions in our view. The company also announced that it will propose and support an increase in dividends to USD 3/sh. annually at the 2014 AGM and pursue an MLP-like yield vehicle with targeted IPO in mid-2014, providing the basis for a multiple expansion. The company will also reduce the board size and has ordered 5x jackups on spec which is seen as positive developments. We increase our TP to USD 60 (55) on a multiple expansion and more confidence in cost estimates, but reduce our rating to HOLD on recent share price run." Transocean closed on Thursday at $54.67.