W&T Offshore (NYSE:WTI) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

W&T Offshore, Inc. (NYSE:WTI) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $3.31, but opened at $3.56. W&T Offshore shares last traded at $3.5040, with a volume of 1,551,601 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of W&T Offshore in a research note on Monday, April 20th. William Blair started coverage on W&T Offshore in a research note on Friday, April 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of W&T Offshore from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

W&T Offshore Stock Up 11.9%

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $3.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $551.23 million, a P/E ratio of -3.90 and a beta of 0.24.

W&T Offshore Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. W&T Offshore’s payout ratio is presently -4.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WTI. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its position in W&T Offshore by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,502,907 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,450,000 after purchasing an additional 206,810 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of W&T Offshore by 447.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 257,635 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 210,564 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of W&T Offshore by 381.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,400,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,912,000 after buying an additional 1,901,213 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of W&T Offshore by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 649,490 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,215,000 after buying an additional 26,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in shares of W&T Offshore in the 1st quarter valued at about $92,000. 42.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W&T Offshore Company Profile

W&T Offshore, Inc is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused primarily on offshore operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The company acquires, develops and produces crude oil and natural gas reserves, operating a portfolio of producing properties that encompasses both shallow-water and deepwater assets. W&T Offshore leverages its technical expertise and asset management capabilities to optimize field development and production efficiency across its portfolio.

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Covington, Louisiana, W&T Offshore has built a track record of disciplined growth through strategic acquisitions and targeted exploration activities.