W&T Offshore (NYSE:WTI) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

W&T Offshore, Inc. (NYSE:WTI) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $3.57, but opened at $3.83. W&T Offshore shares last traded at $3.7450, with a volume of 504,046 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on WTI shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of W&T Offshore in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of W&T Offshore from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $4.25 target price on shares of W&T Offshore in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W&T Offshore presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.25.

W&T Offshore Stock Up 2.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $553.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.03 and a beta of 0.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.43.

W&T Offshore (NYSE:WTI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.04 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $162.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.46 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that W&T Offshore, Inc. will post -0.09 EPS for the current year.

W&T Offshore Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. W&T Offshore’s payout ratio is presently -5.48%.

Institutional Trading of W&T Offshore

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in W&T Offshore by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 312,081 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 4,241 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of W&T Offshore by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 87,530 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 6,195 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of W&T Offshore by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 36,610 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 6,524 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of W&T Offshore by 42.7% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 21,957 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 6,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of W&T Offshore by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 283,774 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 8,200 shares during the last quarter. 42.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About W&T Offshore

W&T Offshore, Inc is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused primarily on offshore operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The company acquires, develops and produces crude oil and natural gas reserves, operating a portfolio of producing properties that encompasses both shallow-water and deepwater assets. W&T Offshore leverages its technical expertise and asset management capabilities to optimize field development and production efficiency across its portfolio.

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Covington, Louisiana, W&T Offshore has built a track record of disciplined growth through strategic acquisitions and targeted exploration activities.