Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $2.34, but opened at $2.49. Kosmos Energy shares last traded at $2.42, with a volume of 3,014,518 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on KOS. Stephens dropped their price objective on Kosmos Energy from $3.00 to $2.40 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Mizuho restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $3.00 target price (up from $2.00) on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Kosmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Kosmos Energy to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Kosmos Energy from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $2.53.

Kosmos Energy Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.56, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $2.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.36.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $370.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, analysts expect that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Andrew G. Inglis sold 85,935 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.05, for a total value of $176,166.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,678,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,589,988.15. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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. Also, Director John Douglas Kelso Grant sold 43,466 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.73, for a total transaction of $118,662.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 82,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,709.03. The trade was a 34.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders sold 294,580 shares of company stock valued at $689,275. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kosmos Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KOS. Banco Santander S.A. grew its stake in shares of Kosmos Energy by 321.9% during the second quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 525,378 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after buying an additional 400,842 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Kosmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $138,000. Militia Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kosmos Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $70,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kosmos Energy by 106.5% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 25,268 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 13,031 shares during the period. Finally, Caerus Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kosmos Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. 95.33% of the stock is owned by 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.