Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Sunday.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Gulfport Energy from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Tudor Pickering downgraded Gulfport Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Gulfport Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research raised Gulfport Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Gulfport Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.88.

Gulfport Energy Stock Performance

Gulfport Energy stock opened at $194.02 on Friday. Gulfport Energy has a fifty-two week low of $153.27 and a fifty-two week high of $225.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -102.12 and a beta of 0.61.

Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by ($1.51). Gulfport Energy had a net margin of 1.68% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The firm had revenue of $379.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $343.18 million.

Insider Activity at Gulfport Energy

In other Gulfport Energy news, COO Matthew Rucker sold 10,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.61, for a total value of $2,002,698.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,405,962.73. This represents a 45.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Silver Point Capital L.P. sold 244,489 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.56, for a total transaction of $53,680,004.84. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,495,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $767,456,830.36. The trade was a 6.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 312,172 shares of company stock worth $67,975,930 in the last ninety days. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gulfport Energy during the second quarter worth $557,000. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Gulfport Energy by 1.6% in the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 5,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Gulfport Energy by 7.1% during the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 1,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Gulfport Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,015,000. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Gulfport Energy by 15.6% in the second quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 12,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares during the period.

Gulfport Energy Company Profile

Gulfport Energy Corporation is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The company focuses on the development of onshore natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and crude oil properties in the United States. Gulfport utilizes horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing techniques to maximize production and enhance recovery from its resource plays.

The company’s primary operations are concentrated in two major U.S. resource basins.