Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Coterra Energy (NYSE:CTRA)

Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE:CTRA) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 15,767 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 396% compared to the average daily volume of 3,178 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CTRA shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Coterra Energy from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Stephens upped their target price on Coterra Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lifted their price target on Coterra Energy from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Coterra Energy from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Coterra Energy from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coterra Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.53.

Coterra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CTRA traded up $0.08 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $25.60. 2,189,923 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,208,750. Coterra Energy has a 12 month low of $22.30 and a 12 month high of $28.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $18.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.42, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.27.

Coterra Energy (NYSE:CTRA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.03). Coterra Energy had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 21.91%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. Coterra Energy’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Coterra Energy will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coterra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Coterra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 50.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Adam M. Vela sold 16,435 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.76, for a total transaction of $439,800.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 72,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,937,664.84. The trade was a 18.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin William Smith sold 29,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.16, for a total value of $775,460.88. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 77,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,016,282. This trade represents a 27.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coterra Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CTRA. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Coterra Energy by 28.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 71,210,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,705,480,000 after purchasing an additional 15,736,247 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Coterra Energy by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,156,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $530,645,000 after acquiring an additional 305,626 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coterra Energy by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,000,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,628,000 after acquiring an additional 128,397 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Coterra Energy by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,963,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,266,000 after acquiring an additional 195,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in Coterra Energy by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 6,783,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,921,000 after purchasing an additional 285,774 shares in the last quarter. 87.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Coterra Energy Company Profile

Coterra Energy Inc, an independent oil and gas company, engages in the development, exploration, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company’s properties include the Marcellus Shale with approximately 186,000 net acres in the dry gas window of the play located in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania; Permian Basin properties with approximately 296,000 net acres located in west Texas and southeast New Mexico; and Anadarko Basin properties with approximately 182,000 net acres located in Oklahoma.