Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $3.03, but opened at $2.60. Kosmos Energy shares last traded at $2.68, with a volume of 9,534,266 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Kosmos Energy from $1.70 to $0.80 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Kosmos Energy from $2.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Johnson Rice raised Kosmos Energy from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.25 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Kosmos Energy from $1.75 to $2.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.19.

Kosmos Energy Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.53, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of -1.90, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.65.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter. Kosmos Energy had a negative net margin of 54.18% and a negative return on equity of 39.29%. The company had revenue of $294.62 million for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Adebayo O. Ogunlesi acquired 3,157,895 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $1.90 per share, with a total value of $6,000,000.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,974,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,450,949.60. This represents a 173.87% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Josh R. Marion sold 19,656 shares of Kosmos Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.37, for a total value of $26,928.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 197,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $270,450.33. The trade was a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 3,684,210 shares of company stock worth $6,999,999 and sold 272,844 shares worth $377,592. Corporate insiders own 1.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kosmos Energy by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC now owns 19,469,980 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $17,667,000 after buying an additional 1,689,500 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Kosmos Energy by 2.0% during the 3rd 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. raised its stake in Kosmos Energy by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,045,593 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $10,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,936 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Kosmos Energy by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,272,318 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $10,230,000 after purchasing an additional 832,029 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake 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 valued at $16,439,000 after purchasing an additional 289,626 shares during the period. 95.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.