W&T Offshore (NYSE:WTI) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

W&T Offshore, Inc. (NYSE:WTI)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $3.57, but opened at $3.69. W&T Offshore shares last traded at $3.6650, with a volume of 430,033 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of W&T Offshore from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Roth Capital set a $4.25 target price on shares of W&T Offshore in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of W&T Offshore in a report on Friday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.25.

W&T Offshore Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $556.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.04 and a beta of 0.35.

W&T Offshore (NYSE:WTI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.04 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $162.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.46 million. Equities analysts predict that W&T Offshore, Inc. will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W&T Offshore Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. W&T Offshore’s payout ratio is presently -5.48%.

Institutional Trading of W&T Offshore

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of W&T Offshore by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 28,642 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 3,159 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its position in W&T Offshore by 143.4% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 300,035 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 176,751 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in W&T Offshore in the second quarter worth approximately $2,008,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in W&T Offshore during the second quarter worth $50,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP increased its stake in W&T Offshore by 61.6% during the second quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 102,822 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 39,213 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.88% of the company’s stock.

About W&T Offshore

W&T Offshore, Inc is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company focused on offshore properties in the Gulf of Mexico. The company explores for, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids from assets located primarily in federal waters.

W&T Offshore operates across shallow-water shelf and deepwater areas of the Gulf of Mexico. Its activities include acquiring prospective acreage, drilling and completing wells, managing production operations, and developing existing fields and discoveries.