UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) Stock

Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) had its price target increased by research analysts at UBS Group from $264.00 to $267.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 25.90% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Gulfport Energy from $205.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Gulfport Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Gulfport Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Tudor Pickering cut shares of Gulfport Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Gulfport Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.44.

Gulfport Energy Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE GPOR opened at $212.08 on Thursday. Gulfport Energy has a 1 year low of $153.27 and a 1 year high of $225.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $197.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.01. The company has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.61 by ($0.01). Gulfport Energy had a net margin of 30.01% and a return on equity of 21.85%. The business had revenue of $398.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $373.24 million.

Insider Transactions at Gulfport Energy

In related news, COO Matthew Rucker sold 10,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.61, for a total transaction of $2,002,698.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,893 shares in the company, valued at $2,405,962.73. The trade was a 45.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Michael L. Hodges sold 16,769 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.70, for a total transaction of $3,533,228.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,892,261.10. This trade represents a 47.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 893,835 shares of company stock worth $182,476,994. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gulfport Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Gulfport Energy by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,391,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Gulfport Energy by 14.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 95,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,631,000 after buying an additional 12,327 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Gulfport Energy by 11.6% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,178,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Gulfport Energy by 35.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,219,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gulfport Energy by 50.5% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 501 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter.

About Gulfport Energy

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.