Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) Trading 7.5% Higher – Time to Buy?

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS) shot up 7.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $2.59 and last traded at $2.58. 4,445,393 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 24,745,438 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KOS. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Kosmos Energy from $1.75 to $2.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased 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 note on Monday, January 5th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Kosmos Energy from $2.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $1.00 price objective (down from $3.40) on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kosmos Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.08.

Kosmos Energy Stock Up 9.6%

The company has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.80 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.53, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.51.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $294.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.46 million. Kosmos Energy had a negative return on equity of 39.29% and a negative net margin of 54.18%. On average, research analysts expect that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Nealesh D. Shah purchased 157,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1.90 per share, with a total value of $299,998.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,863,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,539,815.90. This trade represents a 9.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Andrew G. Inglis purchased 315,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $1.90 per share, for a total transaction of $600,001.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,542,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,631,333.30. This represents a 7.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 3,684,210 shares of company stock worth $6,999,999 and sold 272,844 shares worth $377,592. 2.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kosmos Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KOS. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kosmos Energy by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 24,634 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 7,169 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kosmos Energy by 18.8% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 57,782 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 9,159 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kosmos Energy by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 45,539 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 10,598 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Kosmos Energy by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 42,577 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 11,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Kosmos Energy by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 278,082 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $634,000 after acquiring an additional 12,045 shares in the last quarter. 95.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.