W&T Offshore (NYSE:WTI) Trading 7.1% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of W&T Offshore, Inc. (NYSE:WTI) traded up 7.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $4.17 and last traded at $4.1650. 4,479,238 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 6,661,996 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.89.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded W&T Offshore from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of W&T Offshore in a report on Monday, April 20th. William Blair assumed coverage on W&T Offshore in a report on Friday, April 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded W&T Offshore from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

W&T Offshore Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $661.33 million, a P/E ratio of -4.68 and a beta of 0.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.47.

W&T Offshore (NYSE:WTI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $150.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.41 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that W&T Offshore, Inc. will post -0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W&T Offshore Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W&T Offshore

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTI. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in W&T Offshore by 381.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,400,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901,213 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in W&T Offshore by 115.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,666,494 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,716,000 after purchasing an additional 894,221 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in W&T Offshore by 33.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,560,561 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,660,000 after purchasing an additional 647,596 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of W&T Offshore during the first quarter valued at about $2,205,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W&T Offshore by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,540,588 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,141,000 after acquiring an additional 508,050 shares in the last quarter. 42.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W&T Offshore Company Profile

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.