Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) Trading Up 8.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS) rose 8.3% on Thursday after Johnson Rice upgraded the stock from an accumulate rating to a buy rating. Johnson Rice now has a $4.25 price target on the stock. Kosmos Energy traded as high as $2.93 and last traded at $2.88. Approximately 6,357,492 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 25,858,711 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.66.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered 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 report on Monday, January 5th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $1.00 target price (down from $3.40) on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research note on Friday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Kosmos Energy from $1.75 to $2.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Kosmos Energy from $2.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kosmos Energy

In related news, Director J Michael Stice bought 52,631 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $1.90 per share, for a total transaction of $99,998.90. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 207,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $394,478. This represents a 33.96% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew G. Inglis bought 315,790 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1.90 per share, for a total transaction of $600,001.00. Following the purchase, 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 SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 3,684,210 shares of company stock valued at $6,999,999 and sold 272,844 shares valued at $377,592. Company insiders own 1.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Kosmos Energy by 41.6% during the second quarter. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC now owns 18,671,480 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,115,000 after purchasing an additional 5,485,000 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kosmos Energy by 175.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,766,857 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $6,140,000 after purchasing an additional 4,308,275 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Kosmos Energy by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 33,411,046 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $57,467,000 after purchasing an additional 4,175,537 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Kosmos Energy by 66.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,048,196 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $6,396,000 after purchasing an additional 2,825,517 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Kosmos Energy by 333.0% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 3,221,011 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,540,000 after buying an additional 2,477,102 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.33% of the company’s stock.

Kosmos Energy Stock Up 1.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.53, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $2.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.57.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter. Kosmos Energy had a negative net margin of 54.18% and a negative return on equity of 39.29%. The firm had revenue of $294.62 million for the quarter. Research analysts expect that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.