Vaalco Energy (NYSE:EGY) Stock Price Down 4.4% – Should You Sell?

Vaalco Energy Inc (NYSE:EGY)’s stock price was down 4.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $6.24 and last traded at $6.2350. 373,019 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 1,405,903 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EGY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Vaalco Energy in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vaalco Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $7.30.

Vaalco Energy Trading Up 1.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.44. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $5.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.70. The firm has a market cap of $655.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.88 and a beta of 0.14.

Vaalco Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.0625 per share. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Vaalco Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -23.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EGY. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vaalco Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in Vaalco Energy in the second quarter worth $269,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Vaalco Energy in the second quarter worth $1,051,000. Tieton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Vaalco Energy during the second quarter valued at $9,324,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Vaalco Energy by 6.7% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,936,762 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $45,399,000 after purchasing an additional 558,168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.32% of the company’s stock.

About Vaalco Energy

VAALCO Energy, Inc is an independent energy company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company focuses primarily on international upstream oil and gas activities.

VAALCO’s operations have included offshore and onshore assets in Africa, with interests in the Etame Marin field offshore Gabon and producing properties in Egypt. The company has also held exploration and development interests in Equatorial Guinea and Canada.