VAALCO Energy (NYSE:EGY) Shares Gap Up to $6.39

VAALCO Energy, Inc. (NYSE:EGY)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $6.39, but opened at $6.61. VAALCO Energy shares last traded at $6.63, with a volume of 233,303 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut VAALCO Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday.

VAALCO Energy Trading Up 5.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The business has a 50 day moving average of $5.83 and a 200 day moving average of $4.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $696.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.29.

VAALCO Energy (NYSE:EGY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The energy company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.22. VAALCO Energy had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 13.26%. The company had revenue of $149.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.53 million. As a group, research analysts predict that VAALCO Energy, Inc. will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VAALCO Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.063 dividend. This is an increase from VAALCO Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. VAALCO Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 44.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of VAALCO Energy by 0.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,666,535 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $24,876,000 after buying an additional 26,551 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its position in VAALCO Energy by 3.8% during the third quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 2,196,895 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $9,644,000 after purchasing an additional 79,755 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in VAALCO Energy by 13.2% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,192,299 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,234,000 after purchasing an additional 138,810 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in VAALCO Energy by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 957,194 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,298,000 after purchasing an additional 71,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC boosted its position in VAALCO Energy by 65.4% during the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 877,205 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,939,000 after purchasing an additional 347,005 shares during the last quarter. 50.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

VAALCO Energy Company Profile

VAALCO Energy, Inc, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in Gabon, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, and Canada. The company holds 58.8% interest in the Etame production sharing contract related to the Etame Marin block covering an area of approximately 46,200 gross acres located offshore in the Republic of Gabon in West Africa.