Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

Key Points

• Shares gapped down — KOS opened at $2.37 after a $2.63 close and was last at $2.44, trading down about 6.5% on roughly 3.08 million shares.
• Analysts are mixed but skew negative: two Buys, four Holds and three Sells produce a MarketBeat consensus of "Reduce" with an average target of $2.22 and individual targets ranging from $0.80 to $4.25.
• Significant insider buying occurred in March (about 3.68 million shares bought at $1.90), even as the company shows negative margins, a negative P/E and a high debt-to-equity ratio (5.53), signaling insider conviction despite weak fundamentals.

Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $2.63, but opened at $2.37. Kosmos Energy shares last traded at $2.44, with a volume of 3,081,392 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KOS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Johnson Rice upgraded shares of Kosmos Energy from an "accumulate" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $4.25 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kosmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Kosmos Energy from $1.70 to $0.80 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Kosmos Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Kosmos Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $2.25 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $2.22.

Kosmos Energy Trading Down 6.5%

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.65. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $2.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.53, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $294.62 million during the quarter. Kosmos Energy had a negative return on equity of 39.29% and a negative net margin of 54.18%. Equities research analysts expect that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Kosmos Energy

In related news, Director Adebayo O. Ogunlesi bought 3,157,895 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $1.90 per share, with a total value of $6,000,000.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 4,974,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,450,949.60. This represents a 173.87% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Nealesh D. Shah bought 157,894 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $1.90 per share, for a total transaction of $299,998.60. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,863,061 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,539,815.90. This represents a 9.26% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have bought 3,684,210 shares of company stock valued at $6,999,999 and have sold 272,844 shares valued at $377,592. 1.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kosmos Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&G PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kosmos Energy by 38.3% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 7,978,144 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $13,244,000 after buying an additional 2,210,302 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Kosmos Energy by 34.1% during the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,747,831 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $4,561,000 after purchasing an additional 698,740 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Kosmos Energy by 40.5% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 738,806 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 212,970 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in Kosmos Energy by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 153,669 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 33,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. raised its stake in Kosmos Energy by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 143,809 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 14,151 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.33% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.