Bank of America Issues Positive Forecast for Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) Stock Price

Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) had its price objective upped by Bank of America from $215.00 to $237.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GPOR. Wolfe Research cut Gulfport Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Gulfport Energy from $228.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Tudor Pickering cut shares of Gulfport Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Gulfport Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Gulfport Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.78.

Gulfport Energy Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of Gulfport Energy stock opened at $204.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.04 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $197.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.72. Gulfport Energy has a 52-week low of $153.27 and a 52-week high of $225.78.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Lester Zitkus sold 4,745 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.69, for a total value of $881,099.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,452,281.49. The trade was a 37.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael Sluiter sold 9,933 shares of Gulfport Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $2,085,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,515,800. The trade was a 45.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 893,835 shares of company stock valued at $182,476,994 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Gulfport Energy during the third quarter valued at about $1,837,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Gulfport Energy by 67.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 351,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,525,000 after buying an additional 142,002 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Gulfport Energy by 29.0% in the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 48,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,687,000 after acquiring an additional 10,786 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Gulfport Energy in the third quarter worth $13,574,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Gulfport Energy by 45.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 62,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,261,000 after acquiring an additional 19,458 shares in the last quarter.

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.