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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KOS shares. 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 report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Kosmos Energy from $1.70 to $0.80 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 5th. Mizuho cut their target price on Kosmos Energy from $2.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, 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. Two equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.08.

Kosmos Energy Stock Up 11.7%

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $1.81 and its 200-day moving average is $1.53. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.53, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.75.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Adebayo O. Ogunlesi acquired 3,157,895 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $1.90 per share, with a total value of $6,000,000.50. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,974,184 shares in the company, valued at $9,450,949.60. The trade was a 173.87% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew G. Inglis acquired 315,790 shares of Kosmos Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $1.90 per share, for a total transaction of $600,001.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,542,807 shares in the company, valued at $8,631,333.30. The trade was a 7.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 3,684,210 shares of company stock worth $6,999,999 and sold 272,844 shares worth $377,592. 1.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kosmos Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in Kosmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $188,000. Aristides Capital LLC bought a new stake in Kosmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $179,000. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in Kosmos Energy by 500.6% during the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 914,037 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $829,000 after acquiring an additional 761,861 shares during the last quarter. Numerai GP LLC acquired a new position in Kosmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, Man Group plc acquired a new position in Kosmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $140,000. 95.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.