Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $2.57, but opened at $2.69. Kosmos Energy shares last traded at $2.69, with a volume of 6,387,821 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KOS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Kosmos Energy from $2.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Kosmos Energy from $1.75 to $2.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Johnson Rice downgraded Kosmos Energy from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $4.50 to $3.50 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $1.00 price objective (down from $3.40) on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.08.

Kosmos Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of -1.64 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.53, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $1.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.49.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $294.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.46 million. Kosmos Energy had a negative return on equity of 39.29% and a negative net margin of 54.18%. As a group, research analysts predict that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Andrew G. Inglis sold 44,628 shares of Kosmos Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.42, for a total value of $63,371.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,227,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,002,364.14. This trade represents a 1.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Josh R. Marion sold 19,656 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.37, for a total transaction of $26,928.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 197,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $270,450.33. This trade represents a 9.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 272,844 shares of company stock worth $377,592 over the last 90 days. 2.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kosmos Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KOS. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Kosmos Energy in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Kosmos Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Kosmos Energy by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 24,634 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 7,169 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Kosmos Energy by 93.9% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 28,601 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 13,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kosmos Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.33% of the company’s stock.

About Kosmos Energy

Kosmos Energy Ltd. is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Since its founding in 2003, the company has focused on identifying and developing hydrocarbon reserves in frontier and emerging basins around the world. Kosmos combines geological and geophysical expertise with a disciplined approach to acreage acquisition and partner selection to pursue high‐impact offshore exploration opportunities.

The company’s portfolio is anchored by assets in West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico.