Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) Hits New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS) hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $2.45 and last traded at $2.49, with a volume of 14958328 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $2.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on KOS. Benchmark cut their price objective on Kosmos Energy from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kosmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Kosmos Energy from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Kosmos Energy from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $5.60 price target on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kosmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.52.

Kosmos Energy Trading Down 11.4 %

The company has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 2.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $3.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by ($0.02). Kosmos Energy had a net margin of 12.21% and a return on equity of 31.08%. The firm had revenue of $397.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $387.60 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Kosmos Energy

In other Kosmos Energy news, CEO Andrew G. Inglis sold 138,689 shares of Kosmos Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.12, for a total transaction of $432,709.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,959,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,352,080. The trade was a 3.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ronald W. Glass sold 16,182 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.12, for a total transaction of $50,487.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 320,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,120.72. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 503,970 shares of company stock valued at $1,572,386 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kosmos Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Kosmos Energy by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 32,627,567 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $111,586,000 after acquiring an additional 5,906,210 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Kosmos Energy by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 29,556,382 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $101,083,000 after purchasing an additional 2,997,438 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Kosmos Energy by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 28,245,415 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $113,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,933,216 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kosmos Energy by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 21,141,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $85,202,000 after buying an additional 1,588,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in Kosmos Energy by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,734 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $64,104,000 after buying an additional 4,114,499 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.33% of the company’s stock.

Kosmos Energy Company Profile

Kosmos Energy Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas along the Atlantic Margins in the United States. The company’s primary assets include production projects located in offshore Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, as well as gas projects located in offshore Mauritania and Senegal.