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

W&T Offshore, Inc. (NYSE:WTI) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $2.85, but opened at $3.00. W&T Offshore shares last traded at $3.4080, with a volume of 16,824,043 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of W&T Offshore from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of W&T Offshore in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

W&T Offshore Stock Up 21.2%

The stock has a market capitalization of $514.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.42 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.01.

W&T Offshore (NYSE:WTI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 16th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $121.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $115.36 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that W&T Offshore, Inc. will post -0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W&T Offshore Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be paid a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. W&T Offshore’s payout ratio is -3.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W&T Offshore

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W&T Offshore by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,828,361 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,428,000 after buying an additional 19,283 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in W&T Offshore by 24.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,071,610 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,761,000 after buying an additional 598,614 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in W&T Offshore by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,680,643 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,369,000 after buying an additional 14,426 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in W&T Offshore by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,540,588 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,141,000 after acquiring an additional 508,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its stake in W&T Offshore by 381.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,400,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,901,213 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.88% of the company’s stock.

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.