Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) Stock Price Up 6.9% – Here’s What Happened

Gulfport Energy Corporation (NYSE:GPOR)’s share price shot up 6.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $209.85 and last traded at $210.91. 48,400 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 332,772 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GPOR shares. Wolfe Research cut shares of Gulfport Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Gulfport Energy from $219.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Gulfport Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. TD Cowen raised Gulfport Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Tudor Pickering downgraded Gulfport Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Gulfport Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.67.

Gulfport Energy Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $196.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $194.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 0.61.

Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.61 by ($0.01). Gulfport Energy had a return on equity of 21.85% and a net margin of 30.01%.The business had revenue of $398.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $373.24 million.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gulfport Energy

In other news, SVP Michael Sluiter sold 9,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $2,085,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,980 shares in the company, valued at $2,515,800. This represents a 45.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Matthew Rucker sold 10,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.61, for a total value of $2,002,698.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,405,962.73. This represents a 45.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 893,835 shares of company stock worth $182,476,994. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gulfport Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gulfport Energy by 6.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,078,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,165,000 after purchasing an additional 68,664 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Gulfport Energy by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 671,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,662,000 after acquiring an additional 83,613 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Gulfport Energy by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 595,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,892,000 after purchasing an additional 34,716 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gulfport Energy by 50.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 527,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,692,000 after purchasing an additional 176,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Gulfport Energy by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 482,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,056,000 after purchasing an additional 8,668 shares during the period.

Gulfport Energy Company Profile

Gulfport Energy Corporation is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The company focuses on the development of onshore natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and crude oil properties in the United States. Gulfport utilizes horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing techniques to maximize production and enhance recovery from its resource plays.

The company’s primary operations are concentrated in two major U.S. resource basins.