Laredo Petroleum Inc (NYSE:LPI) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 29th, there was short interest totalling 41,590,000 shares, an increase of 8.3% from the November 14th total of 38,390,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.7 days. Approximately 23.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.
LPI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Laredo Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $2.50 to $2.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Laredo Petroleum from $5.50 to $5.60 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Laredo Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Williams Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $4.50 target price on shares of Laredo Petroleum in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, ValuEngine upgraded shares of Laredo Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.38.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LPI. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Laredo Petroleum by 79.2% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 589,417 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,821,000 after purchasing an additional 260,525 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Laredo Petroleum by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 238,516 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $692,000 after acquiring an additional 3,957 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management & Equity Research Inc. bought a new position in Laredo Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $603,000. Aperio Group LLC boosted its stake in Laredo Petroleum by 53.1% during the 2nd quarter. Aperio Group LLC now owns 270,113 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $783,000 after acquiring an additional 93,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Municipal Employees Retirement System of Michigan boosted its stake in Laredo Petroleum by 25.3% during the 2nd quarter. Municipal Employees Retirement System of Michigan now owns 72,900 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 14,730 shares during the last quarter. 96.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
LPI traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $2.97. The company had a trading volume of 3,823,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,817,453. The company has a market capitalization of $691.23 million, a PE ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.54. Laredo Petroleum has a twelve month low of $2.03 and a twelve month high of $4.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.61.
Laredo Petroleum (NYSE:LPI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $193.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $215.83 million. Laredo Petroleum had a net margin of 5.87% and a return on equity of 14.25%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Laredo Petroleum will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.
About Laredo Petroleum
Laredo Petroleum, Inc, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and natural gas properties in the Permian Basin of West Texas, the United States. The company also provides midstream and marketing services comprising transportation and marketing of oil and natural gas; and natural gas lift systems, crude oil and natural gas gathering, and water delivery and takeaway services.
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