Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) Stock Price Up 8.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS)’s share price shot up 8.3% during trading on Thursday after Johnson Rice upgraded the stock from an accumulate rating to a buy rating. Johnson Rice now has a $4.25 price target on the stock. Kosmos Energy traded as high as $2.93 and last traded at $2.88. 6,357,492 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 25,858,711 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.66.

KOS has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $1.00 price target (down from $3.40) on shares of Kosmos Energy in a report on Friday, December 5th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Kosmos Energy from $2.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kosmos Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Kosmos Energy from $1.70 to $0.80 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Kosmos Energy from $1.75 to $2.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.19.

Insider Activity at Kosmos Energy

In other news, CFO Nealesh D. Shah acquired 157,894 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1.90 per share, for a total transaction of $299,998.60. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,863,061 shares in the company, valued at $3,539,815.90. This trade represents a 9.26% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director J Michael Stice purchased 52,631 shares of Kosmos Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $1.90 per share, for a total transaction of $99,998.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 207,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $394,478. This represents a 33.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 3,684,210 shares of company stock valued at $6,999,999 and sold 272,844 shares valued at $377,592. Insiders own 1.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kosmos Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kosmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $188,000. Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kosmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $179,000. XTX Topco Ltd grew its stake in shares of Kosmos Energy by 500.6% in the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 914,037 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $829,000 after buying an additional 761,861 shares in the last quarter. Numerai GP LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kosmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, Man Group plc purchased a new stake in shares of Kosmos Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $140,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.33% of the company’s stock.

Kosmos Energy Trading Up 7.5%

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1.93 and a 200 day moving average of $1.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of -1.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 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.

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

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.