YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) Trading Up 6.5% – Still a Buy?

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) shot up 6.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $46.24 and last traded at $46.5340. 2,268,802 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 18% from the average session volume of 1,917,588 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on YPF shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, YPF Sociedad Anónima has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.67.

YPF Sociedad Anónima Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $17.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.44 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The oil and gas exploration company reported ($1.67) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($2.44). YPF Sociedad Anónima had a negative return on equity of 0.26% and a negative net margin of 4.48%.The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 million. On average, analysts anticipate that YPF Sociedad Anónima will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other YPF Sociedad Anónima news, VP Marcelo Gustavo Aldeco sold 12,719 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.61, for a total transaction of $554,675.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,404.61. This represents a 99.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 488.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123 shares during the last quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in YPF Sociedad Anónima in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in YPF Sociedad Anónima during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in YPF Sociedad Anónima by 58.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 1,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 2,598 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 10.08% of the company’s stock.

About YPF Sociedad Anónima

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE: YPF) is an integrated oil and gas company headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The company’s primary businesses encompass upstream exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, midstream transportation and storage, and downstream refining and distribution. YPF operates several major refineries and a nationwide network of service stations, supplying fuels, lubricants, and petrochemical products to both retail and industrial customers.

Founded in 1922 as Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales, YPF was the world’s first state‐owned oil company.