Offshore drilling support initiated at Barclays, with Hornbeck best in group

• In conjunction with its negative report on offshore drillers, Barclays initiates coverage on three offshore support companies (XES, IEZ), with only Hornbeck Offshore (HOS +1%) earning an Overweight rating.
• Barclays views Gulf of Mexico support vessel provider HOS as an attractive relative offshore risk-reward at 0.6x tangible book supported by a young, high-spec fleet.
• The firm likes tubular running service provider Frank's International (FI -3.5%) given its more defensive niche market but believes the stock is fairly valued at 10x forward EV/EBITDA.
• Helicopter transport provider Bristow Group (BRS -3.1%) operates in one of the more defensive segments with concentration to less cyclical production-related spending, but Barclays believes it is priced accordingly at 1.3x tangible book value.