Atwood Oceanics shares jump to new 52-week high

Atwood Oceanics shares jump to new 52-week high as crude rises, analyst upgrades stock

• On 3:22 pm EDT, Thursday October 8, 2009

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of drilling contractor Atwood Oceanics Inc. surged Thursday to a new 52-week high, as crude oil prices jumped and as an analyst upgraded the stock.

Earlier in the day, Atwood shares climbed as high as $37.71, the highest price in the past year. The company's shares recently edged up $2.20, or 6.2 percent, to $37.72 in afternoon trading.

Pritchard Capital Partners analyst Brian Uhlmer upgraded the company to "Neutral" from "Sell," based on a belief that all the company's bad news is known and baked into the current share price. Also, he noted that the company has helped its margins by cutting operating costs in recent months. Uhlmer held to his fourth-quarter profit estimate of 59 cents per share, assuming the company was not able to further cut operating costs in September. Analysts polled by Thomson estimate a profit of 66 cents per share, on average.

Atwood's shares have traded above $32 the past four trading days.