Lazard Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS) by 10.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,045,671 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 116,850 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Kosmos Energy were worth $6,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oslo Asset Management AS raised its holdings in shares of Kosmos Energy by 54.5% during the fourth quarter. Oslo Asset Management AS now owns 1,700,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $11,407,000 after purchasing an additional 600,000 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in Kosmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $2,807,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Kosmos Energy by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,687,431 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $65,005,000 after buying an additional 761,657 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Kosmos Energy by 28.0% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 3,331,131 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $19,853,000 after buying an additional 729,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patient Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Kosmos Energy by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Patient Capital Management LLC now owns 6,363,423 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $42,699,000 after buying an additional 1,046,091 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on KOS shares. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of Kosmos Energy in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Kosmos Energy from $7.00 to $5.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.56.

Kosmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KOS opened at $5.46 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.84. Kosmos Energy Ltd. has a 52-week low of $5.07 and a 52-week high of $8.28. The firm has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 2.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Kosmos Energy had a net margin of 12.85% and a return on equity of 39.32%. The business had revenue of $419.14 million for the quarter. Equities analysts predict that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Kosmos Energy

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.