Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) Raised to “Outperform” at Mizuho

Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) was upgraded by Mizuho from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $252.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $251.00. Mizuho’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 45.88% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on GPOR. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Gulfport Energy from $215.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Gulfport Energy from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Gulfport Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Gulfport Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Gulfport Energy from $230.00 to $219.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.22.

Gulfport Energy Trading Down 3.1%

NYSE GPOR opened at $172.75 on Wednesday. Gulfport Energy has a 1-year low of $160.95 and a 1-year high of $225.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $199.35.

Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.61 by ($0.01). Gulfport Energy had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 35.72%.The company had revenue of $398.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $373.24 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gulfport Energy will post 24.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Michael L. Hodges sold 16,769 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.70, for a total value of $3,533,228.30. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy J. Cutt sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.73, for a total value of $1,043,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,480,206.15. This represents a 16.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 876,258 shares of company stock valued at $179,141,707 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gulfport Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPOR. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Gulfport Energy by 4,946.1% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 467,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,892,000 after purchasing an additional 458,156 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gulfport Energy by 1,281.6% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 426,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,104,000 after buying an additional 395,197 shares during the period. Goldentree Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Gulfport Energy in the third quarter valued at about $44,665,000. Ninepoint Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Gulfport Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,598,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gulfport Energy by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 527,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,692,000 after buying an additional 176,386 shares during the period.

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.