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

Shares of Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $2.60, but opened at $2.69. Kosmos Energy shares last traded at $2.62, with a volume of 916,080 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on KOS. Stephens lowered their price objective on Kosmos Energy from $3.00 to $2.40 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Kosmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Kosmos Energy to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Kosmos Energy to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kosmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $2.53.

Kosmos Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.18, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.48.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. Kosmos Energy had a negative return on equity of 17.73% and a negative net margin of 33.98%.The company had revenue of $607.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $483.23 million. On average, analysts expect that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kosmos Energy

In related news, Director Roy A. Franklin sold 43,466 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.73, for a total value of $118,662.18. Following the sale, the director owned 150,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $411,471.06. The trade was a 22.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Nealesh D. Shah sold 45,980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.05, for a total value of $94,259.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,935,410 shares in the company, valued at $3,967,590.50. This trade represents a 2.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders have sold 294,580 shares of company stock worth $689,275 over the last three months. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kosmos Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Equitable Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kosmos Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $105,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Kosmos Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $95,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Kosmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new position in Kosmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Kosmos Energy in the second quarter valued at about $6,188,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.33% of the company’s stock.

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.