Kodiak Gas Services (NYSE:KGS) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Shares of Kodiak Gas Services, Inc. (NYSE:KGS) saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 1,874,085 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 28% from the previous session’s volume of 1,459,617 shares.The stock last traded at $73.7710 and had previously closed at $75.74.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Kodiak Gas Services from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kodiak Gas Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Kodiak Gas Services from $45.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Kodiak Gas Services from $63.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Kodiak Gas Services from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.00.

Kodiak Gas Services Stock Down 0.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.71.

Kodiak Gas Services (NYSE:KGS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.05. Kodiak Gas Services had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 13.12%. The business had revenue of $345.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $340.23 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Kodiak Gas Services, Inc. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Kodiak Gas Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Kodiak Gas Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 264.86%.

Insider Transactions at Kodiak Gas Services

In other news, EVP Cory Anne Roclawski sold 10,852 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.41, for a total value of $590,457.32. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,708,746.05. This represents a 25.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Randall J. Hogan acquired 6,000 shares of Kodiak Gas Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $54.81 per share, with a total value of $328,860.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 28,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,556,932.86. This represents a 26.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 11,433 shares of company stock valued at $624,360 and sold 58,673 shares valued at $3,269,110. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kodiak Gas Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kodiak Gas Services by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kodiak Gas Services by 1,501.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its stake in Kodiak Gas Services by 201.7% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Kodiak Gas Services by 80.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Kodiak Gas Services by 80.4% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. 24.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kodiak Gas Services

Kodiak Gas Services, Inc operates contract compression infrastructure for customers in the oil and gas industry in the United States. It operates in two segments, Compression Operations and Other Services. The Compression Operations segment operates company-owned and customer-owned compression infrastructure to enable the production, gathering, and transportation of natural gas and oil. The Other Services segment provides a range of contract services, including station construction, maintenance and overhaul, and other ancillary time and material-based offerings.