Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) Stock Price Up 7.5% – What’s Next?

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS)’s share price traded 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 changed hands during mid-day 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

Several analysts have recently weighed in on KOS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Kosmos Energy from $1.75 to $2.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $1.00 price objective (down from $3.40) on shares of Kosmos Energy in a report on Friday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Kosmos Energy from $1.70 to $0.80 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Johnson Rice downgraded shares of Kosmos Energy from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $4.50 to $3.50 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.08.

Kosmos Energy Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.80 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.53.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by ($0.02). Kosmos Energy had a negative return on equity of 39.29% and a negative net margin of 54.18%.The company had revenue of $294.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.46 million. On average, analysts forecast that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Kosmos Energy

In other news, Director J Michael Stice purchased 52,631 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $1.90 per share, for a total transaction of $99,998.90. Following the transaction, the director owned 207,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $394,478. This trade represents a 33.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Adebayo O. Ogunlesi acquired 3,157,895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $1.90 per share, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 4,974,184 shares in the company, valued at $9,450,949.60. This trade represents a 173.87% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 3,684,210 shares of company stock worth $6,999,999 and have sold 272,844 shares worth $377,592. Company insiders own 2.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kosmos Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kosmos Energy by 41.6% during the 2nd quarter. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC now owns 18,671,480 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,115,000 after purchasing an additional 5,485,000 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in Kosmos Energy by 333.0% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 3,221,011 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,540,000 after buying an additional 2,477,102 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG raised its stake in Kosmos Energy by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 1,000,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,860,000 after buying an additional 500,000 shares during the period. Patient Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Kosmos Energy by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Patient Capital Management LLC now owns 19,339,717 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,264,000 after buying an additional 1,334,930 shares during the period. Finally, M&G PLC boosted its holdings in Kosmos Energy by 38.3% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 7,978,144 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $13,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,210,302 shares in the last quarter. 95.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.