Jim Cramers take on OII (Oceaneering International, Inc.)

Today, I want to introduce you to Remotely-Operated Vehicles... or ROVs... the robotic, joystick-controlled unmanned machines that do everything, from inspecting deep-water pipelines, to ensure there are going to be no spills, to repairing leads, to be sure there are going to be no spills... to assisting in drilling... Again, to be assured that there are no spills. Most importantly, removing the waste materials produced by drilling, that would otherwise get left on the ocean floor, and pollute your beaches.

This sounds like clean drilling technology to me...

These ROVs are critical... they are critical when it comes to preventing the kinds of spills the enemies of offshore drilling are worried about, but they haven't done the work like we've done on Mad Money... they just haven't. They haven't looked into these companies. It's not their job. The senators and congressmen don't look at these things... They should be looking...

Just to give you a sense of how big this business is... this year, nearly half of the new floating rigs ordered will be equipped with Remotely-Operated Vehicles for offshore drilling.
And the best-of-breed maker of ROVs... the stock to own?...

Oceaneering International, Inc. (OII)... an oil and gas equipment maker I recommended on this show, back on May 17th of 2006...

The stock was at $34.28. We've had 128% gain in a little more than 2 years. Better than a sharp pipeline in the eye, and yet still a great chance to buy, particularly today, as it was down $4.49, or 5.4%...

Whenever we get a pullback in the oil patch, you want to consider that an opportunity to buy.

This is a wild trader. Here's what I would do...

I would start small with OII. The selloff might not be over... but this is a terrific stock to own, if you're betting on an offshore drilling resurgence, and I am betting that way...

Now, how about what this company does... which is clearly eluding the senators and congressmen... the Pelosi's if you don't mind... if haven't done the homework... and it is a homework idea. If you'd done the homework, you'd not be against drilling... I'm not kidding. If you were stuck in the sand, you would.

More than three quarters of OII's sales come from offshore equipment and, more importantly, OII is the market leader in ROVs... a 37% share of the market. It owned 210 work-class ROVs at the end of 2007. That's the largest fleet of these babies in the world.

You want to get an idea of how well-positioned this company is in the business?... A lot of contracts being let in this industry... It won 21 of the 22 remotely-operated vehicle contracts for current floating rig orders at the end of the first quarter. You Google the word "dominance" and OII comes up.

What's more, daily utilization rates for ROVs should stay about 85% for three years... visibility out three years, compared to 70% from 2001 to 2004... which means more demand and more money for OII.

Even if this company doesn't keep winning virtually all of the ROV orders, it also has a healthy business in making the sub-sea hydraulic and electro hydraulic umbilical (control cords for the ROVs) that connect roads to the boats on the surface, and provide them with power, as well as chemicals for injection into the sea bed... and allow communication with the ROV operators on the surface.

OII doubled its market share in this business from 2004 to 2006, which is why I first recommended it; it took it from 21% to 42%. And the overall umbilical business should have a 25% compound annual growth rate, from 2006 to 2011. I don't even know if Google is going to have that growth rate... That's how few companies are growing this fast.

That growth is coming from new ROVs and also from replacing the umbilical cords of older models. And, of course, all of this is a great backdrop for the whole offshore drilling complex... Offshore drilling investments should come to $305 billion... billion... in the 2007-2011 period... We call that the "addressable market." It's one of the biggest I know... That's versus $204 billion from 2002 to 2006... 50% growth anyone?... And deep water spending should grow from 21% of the global drilling market in 2006, to 29% by 2011... all great news for an offshore equipment maker like OII.

You should know that OII is also a tremendous play on a potentially horrible hurricane season... They made a lot of money cleaning up after Katrina... You can see it in their earnings. Katrina and Rita hit during OII's third quarter of 2005. The company then beat estimates by 6 cents, 10% better than people thought... reporting 66 cents of earnings per share. They also raised full-year 2006 guidance, thanks to the repair work...

During the third quarter when Katrina and Rita hit, OII's sequential operating profit from ROVs increased by 37%. Again, I'm trying to find double-digit growth. Listen to these numbers... They had a record fleet utilization of 88% so, as we get closer to hurricane season, you're going to hear people say, how do I play it?... How do I play it?... OII... It's the best hurricane play.

Right now, the stock is at 17.7x 2009 consensus estimates... even though it's been growing sales at 30%... again, same as Google... for the past three years. It's expected to grow at 19% next year.

The stock is cheap on earnings. With today's pullback, it's just plain cheap, given how strong the fundamentals are. When I come out here and do these stocks, you have to understand... I am trying to find the ones that are most levered to the news, but also most levered to oil prices, because I want you to get revenge... With the (gas) pump today at $4.20, how does Cramer give you revenge?... He gives you OII.

The Bottom Line!: ROVs are part of the clean drilling complex, giving us safer, more accurate and, literally, cleaner offshore drilling... even though the Luddites say we can't. They're in demand, and I think the best way to play them is with the #1 remotely-operated vehicles for clean drilling in the world... Oceaneering International, Inc. (OII).