VAALCO Energy, Inc. (NYSE:EGY) Short Interest Up 8.2% in December

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VAALCO Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in VAALCO Energy in the third quarter valued at about $173,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of VAALCO Energy by 66.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 962,824 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $5,527,000 after acquiring an additional 386,071 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its stake in shares of VAALCO Energy by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 2,538,955 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $14,574,000 after purchasing an additional 121,005 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of VAALCO Energy by 319.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 160,736 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $923,000 after purchasing an additional 122,373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC increased its position in VAALCO Energy by 156.8% during the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 1,200,474 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $6,891,000 after purchasing an additional 733,084 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.32% of the company’s stock.

VAALCO Energy Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE EGY opened at $4.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $453.36 million, a P/E ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $5.02 and its 200 day moving average is $5.83. VAALCO Energy has a 52 week low of $4.03 and a 52 week high of $7.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.34.

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

VAALCO Energy Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.