Amplify Energy Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:AMPY)

Amplify Energy Corp. (NYSE:AMPY) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 6,070 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 203% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,003 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amplify Energy

In related news, Director Clint D. Coghill bought 65,494 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $3.89 per share, with a total value of $254,771.66. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,504,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,631,909.83. This trade represents a 1.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider James Frew bought 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $3.70 per share, with a total value of $92,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 129,222 shares in the company, valued at $478,121.40. This represents a 23.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 425,000 shares of company stock worth $1,603,845. 10.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amplify Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMPY. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Amplify Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in Amplify Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Amplify Energy during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Wagner Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amplify Energy during the second quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amplify Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. Institutional investors own 42.84% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMPY. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Amplify Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Amplify Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Alliance Global Partners started coverage on shares of Amplify Energy in a research note on Monday, June 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $8.50.

Amplify Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:AMPY traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $5.31. 641,236 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 876,540. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $4.09 and a 200 day moving average of $3.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Amplify Energy has a 1-year low of $2.27 and a 1-year high of $7.35.

Amplify Energy (NYSE:AMPY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.12). Amplify Energy had a return on equity of 6.61% and a net margin of 5.64%.The firm had revenue of $68.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.51 million. Research analysts anticipate that Amplify Energy will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Amplify Energy Company Profile

Amplify Energy Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, development, exploitation, and production of oil and natural gas properties in the United States. The company’s properties consist of operated and non-operated working interests in producing and undeveloped leasehold acreage, as well as working interests in identified producing wells located in Oklahoma, the Rockies, federal waters offshore Southern California, East Texas/North Louisiana, and Eagle Ford.