Sable Offshore (NYSE:SOC) Shares Down 8.6% – Should You Sell?

Sable Offshore Corp. (NYSE:SOC) shares were down 8.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $3.79 and last traded at $3.7850. 3,836,342 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 7,346,682 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Sable Offshore from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Sable Offshore in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Sable Offshore in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Sable Offshore from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Sable Offshore from $24.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.33.

Sable Offshore Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $582.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.89 and a beta of -0.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.58.

Sable Offshore (NYSE:SOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.37) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.52) by ($0.85). The firm had revenue of $1.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.10 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Sable Offshore Corp. will post -0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sable Offshore

In other news, COO James Caldwell Flores sold 40,743 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.33, for a total transaction of $543,104.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 502,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,692,339.83. This represents a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Anthony Duenner sold 40,743 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.33, for a total value of $543,104.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 530,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,067,246.08. The trade was a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 240,163 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,498 in the last quarter. Insiders own 20.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sable Offshore

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SOC. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Sable Offshore by 60.6% in the fourth quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,489,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,673,000 after purchasing an additional 5,091,925 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Sable Offshore by 542.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,592,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,564,000 after purchasing an additional 9,788,351 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Sable Offshore by 1,504.0% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 11,091,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,048,000 after purchasing an additional 10,400,275 shares during the last quarter. FourWorld Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sable Offshore in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $73,113,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sable Offshore by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,557,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,170,000 after buying an additional 2,975,712 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.19% of the company’s stock.

About Sable Offshore

Sable Offshore (NYSE:SOC) is an independent upstream oil and natural gas company specializing in offshore hydrocarbon exploration and production. The company identifies and secures exploration and development rights, conducts detailed seismic interpretation, and advances offshore prospects through appraisal and development phases. Its focus on the offshore environment drives investments in specialized drilling techniques, subsea infrastructure and production facility design.

Core business activities include offshore seismic surveys, the drilling of exploration and appraisal wells, installation and operation of production platforms or subsea systems, and well intervention services.