Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $2.0786.

KOS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Johnson Rice downgraded shares of Kosmos Energy from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $4.50 to $3.50 in a report on Friday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Kosmos Energy from $1.75 to $2.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $1.00 target price (down from $3.40) on shares of Kosmos Energy in a report on Friday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Kosmos Energy from $1.70 to $0.80 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on Kosmos Energy from $2.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kosmos Energy

In related news, SVP Josh R. Marion sold 19,656 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.37, for a total value of $26,928.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 197,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $270,450.33. The trade was a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Adebayo O. Ogunlesi purchased 3,157,895 shares of Kosmos Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $1.90 per share, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,974,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,450,949.60. The trade was a 173.87% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 3,684,210 shares of company stock worth $6,999,999 and sold 272,844 shares worth $377,592. Insiders own 1.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kosmos Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KOS. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Kosmos Energy by 93.9% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 28,601 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 13,854 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kosmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Old Port Advisors purchased a new position in Kosmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in Kosmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Kosmos Energy by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 42,577 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 11,209 shares during the last quarter. 95.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kosmos Energy Trading Up 10.4%

KOS stock opened at $2.65 on Thursday. Kosmos Energy has a 1-year low of $0.84 and a 1-year high of $2.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.53, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.82, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.52.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.02). Kosmos Energy had a negative net margin of 54.18% and a negative return on equity of 39.29%. The company had revenue of $294.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.46 million. Research analysts anticipate that Kosmos Energy will post 0.42 EPS 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.