3/19/2010-Citigroup maintained its Hold rating and $51 price target on shares of Ensco International (NYSE:ESV) but lowered its 2010 EPS estimate from $4.40 to $4.25 as the bank sees earnings at the company impacted by rig downtime,
Analyst Robin Shoemaker said, "Several of ESV's rigs have remained idle since the last fleet status report. The company will also incur downtime on several of its high margin deepwater rigs for minor repair work. These changes reported on ESV's March 15 fleet status lower our 2010 EPS estimate to $4.25/shr from $4.40/shr. Our 2011 and 2012 numbers are unchanged.
Shoemaker continued, "We maintain our 2H (Hold) rating on ESV shares. While ESV has a number of newbuild deepwater rigs entering the fleet, three of these rigs remain un-contracted. This will likely remain an overhang on ESV shares until commitments are secured. We continue to prefer shares of deepwater drillers RIG and DO due to their significant deepwater contract coverage."
Keywords: ensco Citigroup estimates rating price target
Ticker(s): ESV
