YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) Shares Climb 3.9% – Still a Buy?

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF)’s stock price traded up 3.9% during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $52.00 and last traded at $52.0010. 161,866 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 1,760,138 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on YPF shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on YPF Sociedad Anónima from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. HSBC upgraded shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Zacks Research lowered shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from $61.50 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.33.

YPF Sociedad Anónima Stock Up 4.1%

The firm has a market cap of $20.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $51.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $3.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.81. The firm had revenue of $6.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.99 billion. YPF Sociedad Anónima had a return on equity of 10.86% and a net margin of 3.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that YPF Sociedad Anónima will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of YPF Sociedad Anónima

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Oaktree Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,972,000. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima in the first quarter valued at approximately $21,585,000. Candriam S.C.A. increased its holdings in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 202.0% in the first quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 444,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $20,522,000 after purchasing an additional 297,000 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 70.3% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 299,442 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $10,792,000 after purchasing an additional 123,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Advisors US LLC purchased a new stake in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima during the second quarter worth approximately $12,216,000. 10.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

YPF Sociedad Anónima Company Profile

YPF Sociedad Anónima is an integrated energy company based in Argentina. Its activities span the exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas, with a significant focus on unconventional resources in the Vaca Muerta formation in the Neuquén Basin.

The company also operates downstream businesses, including petroleum refining, the production and marketing of fuels, lubricants and petrochemical products, and a nationwide network of service stations. YPF supplies energy products to industrial, commercial and consumer customers in Argentina and participates in the development of natural gas and other energy infrastructure.

Founded in 1922, YPF was privatized during the 1990s and returned to majority state ownership in 2012.