Duncan-Williams Reiterates Strong Buy on Atwood Oceanics

Duncan-Williams is out with its report today on Atwood Oceanics ATW, reiterating Strong Buy. In a note to clients, Duncan-Williams writes, "After the close yesterday, Atwood announced a new contract for the Atwood Aurora, a jackup rig presently in the shipyard in Italy. The new contract is for 240 days plus a 40 day option beginning in October 2011 in West Africa. A subsidiary of Noble Energy, Inc. is the operator. We reiterate our STRONG BUY rating with a twelve month target of $60.75 per share, which is based on 15 times our 2012 earnings estimate of $4.05 per share." Shares of ATW closed Thursday at $42.13, up 0.52% from Wednesday's close.