Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Gulfport Energy in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research cut Gulfport Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Mizuho raised their target price on Gulfport Energy from $219.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Gulfport Energy from $227.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Gulfport Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.88.

Gulfport Energy Stock Performance

GPOR opened at $178.82 on Friday. Gulfport Energy has a twelve month low of $153.27 and a twelve month high of $225.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of -94.12 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $203.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $186.81.

Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by ($1.51). Gulfport Energy had a net margin of 1.68% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The business had revenue of $379.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $343.18 million.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gulfport Energy

In other Gulfport Energy news, COO Matthew Rucker sold 10,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.61, for a total value of $2,002,698.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,405,962.73. This represents a 45.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David D. Wolf sold 1,525 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.27, for a total transaction of $320,661.75. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $938,224.74. This trade represents a 25.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 312,172 shares of company stock worth $67,975,930. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gulfport Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Gulfport Energy by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 2,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $523,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its stake in Gulfport Energy by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 6,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gulfport Energy during the fourth quarter worth $2,478,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its position in shares of Gulfport Energy by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 108,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,648,000 after buying an additional 7,962 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Gulfport Energy by 93.0% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,459,000 after buying an additional 5,698 shares in the last quarter.

Gulfport Energy Company Profile

Gulfport Energy Corporation is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The company focuses on the development of onshore natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and crude oil properties in the United States. Gulfport utilizes horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing techniques to maximize production and enhance recovery from its resource plays.

The company’s primary operations are concentrated in two major U.S. resource basins.