Contango ORE (NYSEAMERICAN:CTGO) Shares Up 5.8% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Contango ORE shares rose 5.8% in mid-day trading, briefly touching $17.00, though volume was far below average.
• Analysts remain generally positive on the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $33.50. Canaccord Genuity initiated coverage with a $32 target, while Zacks recently downgraded it to Hold.
• The company posted a disappointing quarterly loss of $0.83 per share, missing expectations, even as CEO Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse bought additional shares in late June.

Shares of Contango ORE, Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:CTGO - Get Free Report) shot up 5.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $17.00 and last traded at $17.0090. 56,370 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 454,174 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CTGO. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on Contango ORE in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Contango ORE to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.50.

Contango ORE Trading Up 2.9%

The business's fifty day moving average is $17.82 and its 200-day moving average is $22.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $535.56 million, a PE ratio of -8.95 and a beta of -0.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Contango ORE (NYSEAMERICAN:CTGO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.99). As a group, analysts anticipate that Contango ORE, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Contango ORE

In other news, CEO Nieuwenhuyse Rick Van bought 4,111 shares of Contango ORE stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.24 per share, for a total transaction of $62,651.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 555,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,462,025.24. The trade was a 0.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Contango ORE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Contango ORE in the 2nd quarter worth about $157,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Contango ORE by 1,908.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 207,841 shares of the company's stock worth $3,897,000 after purchasing an additional 197,492 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Contango ORE by 6,539.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 51,392 shares of the company's stock worth $963,000 after purchasing an additional 50,618 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Contango ORE by 5.0% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 135,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,536,000 after buying an additional 6,451 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in Contango ORE in the first quarter valued at approximately $204,000. 19.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Contango ORE

Contango ORE Royalty Trust (NYSE American: CTGO) is a grantor royalty trust that holds net overriding royalty interests in oil and gas properties. As a non‐operating entity, the trust itself does not engage in exploration, drilling or production activities but instead receives a percentage of revenues generated by producing wells. This structure offers investors exposure to commodity price movements and production volumes without the direct capital expenditure or operational risks associated with upstream oil and gas companies.

The trust's assets consist primarily of royalty interests in offshore leases located on the continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico.

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