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

Shares of Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $2.33, but opened at $2.53. Kosmos Energy shares last traded at $2.3570, with a volume of 10,173,493 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KOS. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Kosmos Energy from $2.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kosmos Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Johnson Rice cut shares of Kosmos Energy from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $4.50 to $3.50 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $1.75 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $1.00 price target (down from $3.40) on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kosmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.08.

Kosmos Energy Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.46. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of -3.20 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $294.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.46 million. Kosmos Energy had a negative return on equity of 26.28% and a negative net margin of 23.64%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ronald W. Glass sold 19,285 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.37, for a total value of $26,420.45. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 342,945 shares in the company, valued at $469,834.65. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Josh R. Marion sold 19,656 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.37, for a total transaction of $26,928.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 197,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,450.33. The trade was a 9.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 272,844 shares of company stock valued at $377,592. 2.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kosmos Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Kosmos Energy by 93.9% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 28,601 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 13,854 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kosmos Energy in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Old Port Advisors purchased a new position in Kosmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Kosmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Ellevest Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kosmos Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. 95.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.