Vaalco Energy Inc (NYSE:EGY) Short Interest Update

Vaalco Energy Inc (NYSE:EGY) saw a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 4,121,908 shares, an increase of 21.6% from the February 26th total of 3,390,110 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,853,710 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 4.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Vaalco Energy by 154.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,326,729 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,829,000 after buying an additional 806,283 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in Vaalco Energy in the second quarter worth about $2,770,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Vaalco Energy by 228.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 744,296 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,799,000 after acquiring an additional 517,368 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Vaalco Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,638,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vaalco Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,383,000. 50.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EGY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vaalco Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vaalco Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Vaalco Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $7.30 target price on shares of Vaalco Energy in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $7.30.

Vaalco Energy Price Performance

Shares of EGY opened at $6.34 on Wednesday. Vaalco Energy has a 52 week low of $3.00 and a 52 week high of $6.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $660.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.84 and a beta of 0.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.31 and a 200-day moving average of $4.33.

Vaalco Energy (NYSE:EGY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The energy company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.04). Vaalco Energy had a negative net margin of 11.52% and a negative return on equity of 0.81%. The firm had revenue of $91.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.30 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Vaalco Energy will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Vaalco Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.0625 per share. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. Vaalco Energy’s dividend payout ratio is -62.50%.

Vaalco Energy Company Profile

Vaalco Energy, Inc is an independent energy company principally engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Vaalco concentrates on offshore assets in West Africa, with a strategic emphasis on maintaining and optimizing cash-flow–generating properties. Founded in the mid-1980s, the company has built its reputation by focusing on high-impact drilling prospects and extending the productive life of its core fields through targeted infill wells and enhanced recovery techniques.

The company’s primary producing asset is the Etame Marin block offshore Gabon, where Vaalco holds a majority interest and serves as operator.