NEW YORK (TheStreet) --Transocean LTD announced on Sunday that it has recommended to its board that the company lower its annual dividend of $3 per share by 80% to 60 cents per share in the wake of the recent oil decline. Between June 2014 and January 2015 oil prices have fallen by more than 50% as a result of the global supply glut and OPEC's decision not to cut its production rate. Recently, oil has seen a few sessions in the green. Exclusive Report: Jim Cramer's Best Stocks for 2015 STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12 months. Learn more. "The board remains focused on driving long-term value through the execution of the company's disciplined and balanced allocation strategy," Transocean said in a statement. "This strategy includes maintaining a strong, flexible balance sheet and an investment grade rating on the company's debt; value-creating reinvestment in the business; and a competitive and sustainable distribution of cash to shareholders. The board believes that the level of the proposed dividend supports these objectives," Transocean added. Additionally, the company also announced that Transocean President and CEO Steven Newman will step down from both positions, the agreement between Newman and the board took effect on Monday. Transocean Chairman Ian Strachan will take over as interim CEO until a replacement is found. Newman's departure is unexpected but comes as some analysts believe an uptick in consolidation is unavoidable as the decline in the energy sector is causing a rise in merger activity, Reuters reports. Shares of the Switzerland-based offshore contract drilling services provider are down by 1.05% to $18.85 in pre-market trading on Tuesday morning. Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates TRANSOCEAN LTD as a Sell with a ratings score of D+. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation: "We rate TRANSOCEAN LTD (RIG) a SELL. This is driven by multiple weaknesses, which we believe should have a greater impact than any strengths, and could make it more difficult for investors to achieve positive results compared to most of the stocks we cover. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself." Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows: The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Energy Equipment & Services industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 506.0% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $546.00 million to -$2,217.00 million. Return on equity has greatly decreased when compared to its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a signal of major weakness within the corporation. Compared to other companies in the Energy Equipment & Services industry and the overall market, TRANSOCEAN LTD's return on equity significantly trails that of both the industry average and the S&P 500. Despite any intermediate fluctuations, we have only bad news to report on this stock's performance over the last year: it has tumbled by 56.87%, worse than the S&P 500's performance. Consistent with the plunge in the stock price, the company's earnings per share are down 513.51% compared to the year-earlier quarter. Naturally, the overall market trend is bound to be a significant factor. However, in one sense, the stock's sharp decline last year is a positive for future investors, making it cheaper (in proportion to its earnings over the past year) than most other stocks in its industry. But due to other concerns, we feel the stock is still not a good buy right now. RIG, with its decline in revenue, underperformed when compared the industry average of 11.1%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 7.3%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share. RIG's debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71 is somewhat low overall, but it is high when compared to the industry average, implying that the management of the debt levels should be evaluated further. Regardless of the somewhat mixed results with the debt-to-equity ratio, the company's quick ratio of 1.42 is sturdy. You can view the full analysis from the report here: RIG Ratings Report STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12 months. Learn more.
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