Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) Shares Up 6.9% After Analyst Upgrade

Gulfport Energy Corporation (NYSE:GPOR) shot up 6.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $215.00 to $237.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Gulfport Energy traded as high as $209.85 and last traded at $210.91. 48,400 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 332,772 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.38.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on GPOR. Wolfe Research downgraded Gulfport Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Gulfport Energy from $228.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Gulfport Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Gulfport Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Tudor Pickering downgraded shares of Gulfport Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.78.

Insider Activity at Gulfport Energy

In related news, CFO Michael L. Hodges sold 16,769 shares of Gulfport Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.70, for a total value of $3,533,228.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,473 shares in the company, valued at $3,892,261.10. The trade was a 47.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael Sluiter sold 9,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $2,085,930.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,515,800. This trade represents a 45.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 893,835 shares of company stock worth $182,476,994 over the last quarter. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gulfport Energy

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gulfport Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,837,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gulfport Energy by 67.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 351,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,525,000 after purchasing an additional 142,002 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gulfport Energy by 29.0% during the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 48,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,687,000 after purchasing an additional 10,786 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Gulfport Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $13,574,000. Finally, LSP Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Gulfport Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $8,488,000.

Gulfport Energy Stock Up 0.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $198.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.93.

Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.61 by ($0.01). Gulfport Energy had a net margin of 30.01% and a return on equity of 21.85%. The business had revenue of $398.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $373.24 million.

About Gulfport Energy

Gulfport Energy Corporation is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The company focuses on the development of onshore natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and crude oil properties in the United States. Gulfport utilizes horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing techniques to maximize production and enhance recovery from its resource plays.

The company’s primary operations are concentrated in two major U.S. resource basins.