Kosmos Energy Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:KOS)

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 16,738 call options on the company. This is an increase of 109% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,002 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KOS. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Kosmos Energy from $2.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Kosmos Energy from $1.75 to $2.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Kosmos Energy from $1.70 to $0.80 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Johnson Rice lowered shares of Kosmos Energy from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $4.50 to $3.50 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.08.

Kosmos Energy Stock Up 11.7%

Shares of NYSE:KOS opened at $2.97 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $1.81 and its 200 day moving average is $1.53. Kosmos Energy has a 12-month low of $0.84 and a 12-month high of $2.99. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.03, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.53.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by ($0.02). Kosmos Energy had a negative net margin of 54.18% and a negative return on equity of 39.29%. The company had revenue of $294.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.46 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kosmos Energy will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kosmos Energy

In other Kosmos Energy news, CEO Andrew G. Inglis bought 315,790 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $1.90 per share, for a total transaction of $600,001.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 4,542,807 shares in the company, valued at $8,631,333.30. This trade represents a 7.47% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Adebayo O. Ogunlesi purchased 3,157,895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $1.90 per share, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 4,974,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,450,949.60. This trade represents a 173.87% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 3,684,210 shares of company stock worth $6,999,999 and have sold 272,844 shares worth $377,592. 1.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kosmos Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kosmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $188,000. Aristides Capital LLC bought a new stake in Kosmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $179,000. XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in Kosmos Energy by 500.6% in the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 914,037 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $829,000 after buying an additional 761,861 shares during the last quarter. Numerai GP LLC purchased a new stake in Kosmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Kosmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $140,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.33% of the company’s stock.

About Kosmos Energy

Kosmos Energy Ltd. is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Since its founding in 2003, the company has focused on identifying and developing hydrocarbon reserves in frontier and emerging basins around the world. Kosmos combines geological and geophysical expertise with a disciplined approach to acreage acquisition and partner selection to pursue high‐impact offshore exploration opportunities.

The company’s portfolio is anchored by assets in West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico.