Hercules (Nasdaq:HERO), Seahawk (Nasdaq:HAWK), ENSCO (NYSE:ESV), Rowan (NYSE:RDC), Noble (NYSE:NE) EPS All Lowered

Hercules (Nasdaq:HERO), Seahawk (Nasdaq:HAWK), ENSCO (NYSE:ESV), Rowan (NYSE:RDC) and Noble (NYSE:NE) all have a "Neutral" rating on them from, Global Hunter Securities, which also lowered the EPS estimates on all five of the companies.

Global says, "The supply/demand balance in the US Gulf jackup market may have come into question last week with the influx of five Noble Corp (NE) jackups for temporary stacking for cost savings purposes. We understand these rigs to be awaiting opportunity back in Mexico and are not immediately part of the marketed supply. However, we are reluctant to accept that all five rigs will return to Mexico under contract with PEMEX near-term, particularly given the NOC's desire to high-grade its rig fleet (despite the slowness of that process). While the potential to add rigs to the US market had existed with the notion of PEMEX upgrading its jackup fleet, we assumed PEMEX's tardiness to act suggests the US Gulf permitting process could be closer to normalization and rig demand potentially improving, similar to pre-Macondo levels..."

For Hercules Offshore (HERO) FY12 EPS lowered from -$0.34 to -$0.42 and PT cut from $3.40 to $3.10.

For Seahawk Drilling (HAWK) FY11 EPS lowered from -$3.81 to -$3.90 and FY12 from -$3.31 to -$4.25. PT lowered from $10 to $8.50.

For ENSCO International (ESV) FY11 EPS lowered from $4.39 to $3.97 and FY12 from $5.49 to $5.43. PT increased from $47 to $55.

For Rowan (RDC) FY11 EPS lowered from $2.30 to $2.20 and FY12 from $3.69 to $3.62. PT increased from $32 to $36.

For Noble (NE) FY11 EPS lowered from $3.25 to $2.07 and FY12 from $4.95 to $4.33. PT increased from $37 to $40.

"Our price targets fluctuate as a result of our estimate changes, but are higher for ESV, RDC and NE as we roll into 2012 estimates for our valuation (more detail in company-specific section below). We have a Neutral outlook for the group, and we are maintaining our Neutral ratings on each of the five stocks mentioned in this report."