Azarias Capital Management L.P. Invests $5.02 Million in Gulfport Energy Corporation $GPOR

Key Points

• Azarias Capital Management L.P. invested approximately $5.02 million in Gulfport Energy Corporation, acquiring 24,931 shares and making it the firm's 17th largest holding.
• Gulfport Energy received several positive ratings from analysts, including upgrades to "strong-buy" from TD Cowen and "buy" from Wall Street Zen, with a consensus target price of $217.00.
• In its latest earnings report, Gulfport Energy reported earnings per share of $4.06, falling short of analyst expectations of $4.91, despite exceeding revenue forecasts with $447.62 million.

Azarias Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Gulfport Energy Corporation (NYSE:GPOR - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 24,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,015,000. Gulfport Energy comprises 2.3% of Azarias Capital Management L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Azarias Capital Management L.P. owned about 0.14% of Gulfport Energy at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its position in Gulfport Energy by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 5,145 shares of the company's stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its holdings in Gulfport Energy by 1.5% during the second quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 11,245 shares of the company's stock worth $2,262,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Gulfport Energy by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 20,623 shares of the company's stock worth $3,798,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new position in shares of Gulfport Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $85,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GPOR shares. William Blair initiated coverage on Gulfport Energy in a research note on Monday, August 25th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Gulfport Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Gulfport Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Gulfport Energy in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Gulfport Energy from $240.00 to $227.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Gulfport Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $217.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jason Joseph Martinez sold 600 shares of Gulfport Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.57, for a total transaction of $102,942.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $735,692.16. This trade represents a 12.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Gulfport Energy Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:GPOR opened at $185.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $172.42. Gulfport Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $136.45 and a twelve month high of $210.32. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.84 and a beta of 0.62.

Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $4.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.91 by ($0.85). The business had revenue of $447.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $334.57 million. Gulfport Energy had a positive return on equity of 18.89% and a negative net margin of 9.14%.

Gulfport Energy Company Profile

Gulfport Energy Corporation engages in the exploration, development, acquisition, production of natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States. Its principal properties include Utica Shale covering an area approximately 187,000 net reservoir acres primarily located in Eastern Ohio; and SCOOP covering an area approximately 74,000 net reservoir acres primarily located in Garvin, Grady, and Stephens.

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