W&T Offshore (NYSE:WTI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

W&T Offshore, Inc. (NYSE:WTI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $5.08 and last traded at $4.7250, with a volume of 7295721 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on WTI shares. Wall Street Zen cut W&T Offshore from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of W&T Offshore in a research report on Monday, April 20th. William Blair started coverage on W&T Offshore in a research report on Friday, April 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Zacks Research cut W&T Offshore from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

W&T Offshore Price Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.56. The stock has a market cap of $652.39 million, a PE ratio of -4.62 and a beta of 0.29.

W&T Offshore (NYSE:WTI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $150.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.41 million. On average, equities analysts expect that W&T Offshore, Inc. will post -0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W&T Offshore Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. W&T Offshore’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -4.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WTI. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of W&T Offshore by 309.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 120,911 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 91,400 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of W&T Offshore by 24.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,071,610 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,761,000 after buying an additional 598,614 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of W&T Offshore by 826.2% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 324,807 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $503,000 after buying an additional 289,739 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of W&T Offshore by 2.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,341,646 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,864,000 after buying an additional 52,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its position in shares of W&T Offshore by 42.3% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 42,885 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 12,749 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.88% of the company’s stock.

About W&T Offshore

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.