Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $2.15, but opened at $2.22. Kosmos Energy shares last traded at $2.26, with a volume of 3,017,982 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KOS has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Kosmos Energy from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Johnson Rice raised Kosmos Energy from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.25 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Mizuho restated an “underperform” rating and set a $3.00 target price (up from $2.00) on shares of Kosmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Kosmos Energy to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kosmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $2.44.

Kosmos Energy Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.56. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of -1.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $2.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.27.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.15). Kosmos Energy had a negative return on equity of 37.60% and a negative net margin of 59.38%.The company had revenue of $370.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $405.21 million. Research analysts predict that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Andrew G. Inglis sold 85,935 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.05, for a total value of $176,166.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,678,043 shares in the company, valued at $9,589,988.15. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Steven Sterin sold 38,636 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.73, for a total value of $105,476.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 331,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $904,435.35. This trade represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 294,580 shares of company stock worth $689,275. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kosmos Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KOS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Kosmos Energy by 175.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,766,857 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,140,000 after purchasing an additional 4,308,275 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kosmos Energy by 224.0% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,339,638 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,844,000 after buying an additional 3,691,800 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Kosmos Energy by 66.9% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,048,196 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,396,000 after buying an additional 2,825,517 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kosmos Energy by 333.0% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 3,221,011 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,540,000 after acquiring an additional 2,477,102 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kosmos Energy by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,045,593 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,930,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962,936 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.33% of the company’s stock.

Kosmos Energy Company Profile

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.