Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS) shares gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $2.15, but opened at $2.22. Kosmos Energy shares last traded at $2.26, with a volume of 3,017,982 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $3.00 price target (up from $2.00) on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kosmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Johnson Rice raised shares of Kosmos Energy from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.25 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Kosmos Energy to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Kosmos Energy from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $2.44.

Kosmos Energy Trading Up 3.7%

The company has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.56.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $370.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $405.21 million. Kosmos Energy had a negative return on equity of 37.60% and a negative net margin of 59.38%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Kosmos Energy news, Director Steven Sterin sold 38,636 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.73, for a total transaction of $105,476.28. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 331,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $904,435.35. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Josh R. Marion sold 24,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.05, for a total transaction of $51,186.45. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 233,404 shares in the company, valued at $478,478.20. The trade was a 9.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 294,580 shares of company stock valued at $689,275 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kosmos Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Kosmos Energy during the second quarter worth $138,000. Militia Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kosmos Energy in the first quarter valued at $70,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Kosmos Energy by 106.5% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 25,268 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 13,031 shares during the last quarter. Caerus Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kosmos Energy in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Kosmos Energy by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,541,020 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $15,404,000 after buying an additional 689,800 shares during the last quarter. 95.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.