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

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $3.09, but opened at $2.98. Kosmos Energy shares last traded at $2.97, with a volume of 1,227,501 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KOS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kosmos Energy in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Mizuho upgraded shares of Kosmos Energy to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kosmos Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Kosmos Energy to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on Kosmos Energy from $3.00 to $2.40 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $2.53.

Kosmos Energy Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.66. The company has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a PE ratio of -2.46, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.73.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $607.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $483.23 million. Kosmos Energy had a negative return on equity of 17.73% and a negative net margin of 33.98%. Equities analysts predict that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Nealesh D. Shah sold 45,980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.05, for a total value of $94,259.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,935,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,967,590.50. This represents a 2.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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, CEO Andrew G. Inglis sold 85,935 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.05, for a total transaction of $176,166.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 4,678,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,589,988.15. This trade represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 169,012 shares of company stock valued at $346,475. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kosmos Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kosmos Energy by 6.2% in the first quarter. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC now owns 20,678,033 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $57,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208,053 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Kosmos Energy by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,694,248 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $21,390,000 after buying an additional 646,052 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Kosmos Energy by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,083,075 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $19,699,000 after buying an additional 1,204,789 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Kosmos Energy by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,541,020 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $15,404,000 after buying an additional 689,800 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Kosmos Energy by 224.0% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,339,638 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,844,000 after buying an additional 3,691,800 shares during the last quarter. 95.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kosmos Energy

Kosmos Energy Ltd. is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The company focuses on finding, developing and producing oil and natural gas resources, with an emphasis on offshore assets in emerging and established energy regions.

Kosmos has historically concentrated its operations along the Atlantic margins of West Africa, including interests in Ghana, Equatorial Guinea and the waters offshore Mauritania and Senegal. Its activities have included exploration, field development and production of crude oil and natural gas, as well as participation in projects designed to supply natural gas for liquefied natural gas (LNG) production and domestic markets.

Founded in 2003, Kosmos was involved in the discovery and development of major petroleum resources offshore Ghana, including the Jubilee and TEN fields.