W&T Offshore (NYSE:WTI) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• W&T Offshore shares opened higher, rising from a prior close of $3.57 to $3.69 before trading near $3.6650.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with ratings split among Buy, Hold, and Sell; the consensus is Hold with a $4.25 average price target.
• The company missed quarterly EPS estimates, reporting $0.02 versus $0.04 expected, while revenue exceeded forecasts. W&T Offshore also paid a $0.01 quarterly dividend, yielding about 1.1% annually.

W&T Offshore, Inc. (NYSE:WTI - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $3.57, but opened at $3.69. W&T Offshore shares last traded at $3.6650, with a volume of 430,033 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of W&T Offshore in a report on Friday, July 17th. Roth Capital set a $4.25 target price on shares of W&T Offshore in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut W&T Offshore from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W&T Offshore presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $4.25.

W&T Offshore Price Performance

The company's fifty day simple moving average is $3.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $556.21 million, a PE ratio of -5.04 and a beta of 0.35.

W&T Offshore (NYSE:WTI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $162.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.46 million. Analysts forecast that W&T Offshore, Inc. will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

W&T Offshore Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. W&T Offshore's payout ratio is -5.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W&T Offshore

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W&T Offshore during the second quarter worth approximately $26,065,000. Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in W&T Offshore by 185.8% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,589,137 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $5,006,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033,167 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in W&T Offshore by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,137,443 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $3,879,000 after purchasing an additional 106,779 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in W&T Offshore during the 2nd quarter worth $3,353,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in W&T Offshore by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 649,490 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,215,000 after purchasing an additional 26,262 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.88% of the company's stock.

W&T Offshore Company Profile

W&T Offshore, Inc is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company focused on offshore properties in the Gulf of Mexico. The company explores for, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids from assets located primarily in federal waters.

W&T Offshore operates across shallow-water shelf and deepwater areas of the Gulf of Mexico. Its activities include acquiring prospective acreage, drilling and completing wells, managing production operations, and developing existing fields and discoveries.

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