Kosmos Energy's (KOS) "Underperform" Rating Reaffirmed at Mizuho

Key Points

• Mizuho reiterated its Underperform rating on Kosmos Energy but raised its price target to $3.00 from $2.00, implying only modest upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains weak overall: the stock carries a consensus rating of “Reduce” with an average target price of $2.44, and recent moves included downgrades from RBC and Goldman Sachs.
• Kosmos Energy recently missed earnings and revenue estimates, reporting a loss of $0.07 per share versus expectations for a profit, while insiders, including the director and CEO, made significant stock purchases.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "underperform" rating reiterated by research analysts at Mizuho in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $3.00 price target on the oil and gas producer's stock, up from their previous price target of $2.00. Mizuho's price target indicates a potential upside of 4.53% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Kosmos Energy to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings cut Kosmos Energy from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Kosmos Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $2.25 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Johnson Rice upgraded Kosmos Energy from an "accumulate" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $4.25 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Kosmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $2.44.

Kosmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KOS opened at $2.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.56, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of -1.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.92. Kosmos Energy has a fifty-two week low of $0.84 and a fifty-two week high of $3.34.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $370.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $405.21 million. Kosmos Energy had a negative return on equity of 37.60% and a negative net margin of 59.38%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kosmos Energy will post 0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kosmos Energy

In other news, Director Adebayo O. Ogunlesi acquired 3,157,895 shares of Kosmos Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $1.90 per share, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 4,974,184 shares in the company, valued at $9,450,949.60. This trade represents a 173.87% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Andrew G. Inglis acquired 315,790 shares of Kosmos Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $1.90 per share, with a total value of $600,001.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 4,542,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,631,333.30. The trade was a 7.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 3,684,210 shares of company stock valued at $6,999,999. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC raised its position in Kosmos Energy by 6.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,208,053 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Kosmos Energy by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,320,597 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $23,772,000 after acquiring an additional 286,593 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Kosmos Energy by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,045,593 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $10,930,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962,936 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kosmos Energy by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,272,318 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $10,230,000 after acquiring an additional 832,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Kosmos Energy by 3.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,903,093 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $16,439,000 after acquiring an additional 289,626 shares in the last quarter. 95.33% of the stock is currently 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. 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.

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