W&T Offshore (NYSE:WTI) Shares Up 4.9% – Still a Buy?

W&T Offshore, Inc. (NYSE:WTI)’s stock price traded up 4.9% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $3.62 and last traded at $3.5450. 2,936,022 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 5,475,154 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.38.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WTI. Zacks Research cut W&T Offshore from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of W&T Offshore in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

W&T Offshore Trading Up 3.8%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $521.77 million, a PE ratio of -3.48 and a beta of 0.26.

W&T Offshore (NYSE:WTI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 16th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $121.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $115.36 million. As a group, analysts predict that W&T Offshore, Inc. will post -0.45 EPS for the current year.

W&T Offshore Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. W&T Offshore’s dividend payout ratio is -3.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W&T Offshore by 309.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 120,911 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 91,400 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in W&T Offshore by 24.2% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,071,610 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,761,000 after purchasing an additional 598,614 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in W&T Offshore by 826.2% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 324,807 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 289,739 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in W&T Offshore by 2.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,341,646 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,864,000 after purchasing an additional 52,982 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of W&T Offshore by 42.3% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 42,885 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 12,749 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.88% of the company’s stock.

W&T Offshore Company Profile

W&T Offshore, Inc is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused primarily on offshore operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The company acquires, develops and produces crude oil and natural gas reserves, operating a portfolio of producing properties that encompasses both shallow-water and deepwater assets. W&T Offshore leverages its technical expertise and asset management capabilities to optimize field development and production efficiency across its portfolio.

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Covington, Louisiana, W&T Offshore has built a track record of disciplined growth through strategic acquisitions and targeted exploration activities.