VAALCO Energy, Inc. (NYSE:EGY) Short Interest Update

VAALCO Energy, Inc. (NYSE:EGY) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,600,000 shares, an increase of 8.2% from the November 30th total of 4,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 905,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded VAALCO Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of VAALCO Energy by 172.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 152,798 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $877,000 after acquiring an additional 96,627 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of VAALCO Energy by 362.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 48,965 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 38,372 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of VAALCO Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $308,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of VAALCO Energy by 319.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 160,736 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $923,000 after acquiring an additional 122,373 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of VAALCO Energy by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,493,587 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $14,316,000 after acquiring an additional 109,090 shares during the period. 50.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

VAALCO Energy Trading Up 3.1 %

EGY opened at $4.37 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $5.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.83. The company has a market capitalization of $453.36 million, a P/E ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 1.18. VAALCO Energy has a 52 week low of $4.03 and a 52 week high of $7.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

VAALCO Energy (NYSE:EGY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The energy company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $140.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $128.64 million. VAALCO Energy had a return on equity of 15.63% and a net margin of 17.93%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.07 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that VAALCO Energy will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

VAALCO Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.72%. VAALCO Energy’s payout ratio is currently 29.41%.

VAALCO Energy Company Profile

VAALCO Energy, Inc, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in Gabon, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, and Canada. The company holds 58.8% interest in the Etame production sharing contract related to the Etame Marin block covering an area of approximately 46,200 gross acres located offshore in the Republic of Gabon in West Africa.