Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $2.59, but opened at $2.69. Kosmos Energy shares last traded at $2.69, with a volume of 782,340 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on KOS. Mizuho upgraded Kosmos Energy to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kosmos Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Kosmos Energy from $3.00 to $2.40 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Two equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kosmos Energy has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $2.53.

Kosmos Energy Stock Up 4.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $2.71 and a 200 day moving average of $2.68.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $607.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $483.23 million. As a group, analysts expect that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kosmos Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KOS. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC grew its position in Kosmos Energy by 6.2% in the 1st 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 last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Kosmos Energy by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,694,248 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $21,390,000 after acquiring an additional 646,052 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Kosmos Energy by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,083,075 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $19,699,000 after acquiring an additional 1,204,789 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Kosmos Energy by 14.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,541,020 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $15,404,000 after purchasing an additional 689,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kosmos Energy by 224.0% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,339,638 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,844,000 after buying an additional 3,691,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.33% of the company’s stock.

Kosmos Energy Company Profile

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE: KOS) is an independent international energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas. The company focuses primarily on offshore assets and seeks to develop hydrocarbon resources in selected emerging and frontier basins.

Kosmos has historically maintained a portfolio concentrated along the Atlantic margins of Africa. Its activities have included oil production and development projects offshore Ghana, including interests in the Jubilee and TEN fields, as well as natural gas exploration and development in the offshore Mauritania-Senegal basin.