Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $2.60, but opened at $2.69. Kosmos Energy shares last traded at $2.62, with a volume of 916,080 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KOS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Kosmos Energy to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Mizuho upgraded Kosmos Energy to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Stephens cut their target price on Kosmos Energy from $3.00 to $2.40 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kosmos Energy in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Kosmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $2.53.

Kosmos Energy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $2.41 and its 200 day moving average is $2.50.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $607.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $483.23 million. Kosmos Energy had a negative return on equity of 17.73% and a negative net margin of 33.98%. As a group, analysts predict that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Kosmos Energy news, CFO Nealesh D. Shah sold 45,980 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.05, for a total value of $94,259.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,935,410 shares in the company, valued at $3,967,590.50. This trade represents a 2.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Josh R. Marion sold 24,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.05, for a total value of $51,186.45. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 233,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $478,478.20. The trade was a 9.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 294,580 shares of company stock worth $689,275 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Kosmos Energy by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC now owns 20,678,033 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $57,485,000 after buying an additional 1,208,053 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kosmos Energy by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,320,597 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $23,772,000 after purchasing an additional 286,593 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Kosmos Energy by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,045,593 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,936 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Kosmos Energy by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,272,318 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,230,000 after purchasing an additional 832,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Kosmos Energy by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,903,093 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $16,439,000 after purchasing an additional 289,626 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.33% of the company’s stock.

Kosmos Energy Company Profile

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.