Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $2.21, but opened at $2.30. Kosmos Energy shares last traded at $2.23, with a volume of 2,665,838 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on KOS shares. Johnson Rice raised shares of Kosmos Energy from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.25 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Kosmos Energy to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Mizuho reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $3.00 target price (up from $2.00) on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Kosmos Energy from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Kosmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $2.44.

Kosmos Energy Trading Up 3.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.56, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.60. The company’s 50 day moving average is $2.72 and its 200 day moving average is $2.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.36, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.71.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.15). Kosmos Energy had a negative return on equity of 37.60% and a negative net margin of 59.38%.The company had revenue of $370.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $405.21 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kosmos Energy

In related news, CFO Nealesh D. Shah sold 45,980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.05, for a total value of $94,259.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,935,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,967,590.50. This trade represents a 2.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director John Douglas Kelso Grant sold 43,466 shares of Kosmos Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.73, for a total transaction of $118,662.18. Following the sale, the director owned 82,311 shares in the company, valued at $224,709.03. This represents a 34.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 294,580 shares of company stock worth $689,275. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kosmos Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Kosmos Energy by 6.2% during the first quarter. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC now owns 20,678,033 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $57,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208,053 shares during the period. Dalton Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kosmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $454,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Kosmos Energy by 494.9% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 722,891 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 601,368 shares during the period. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kosmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $188,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kosmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $136,000. 95.33% of the stock is currently 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.