VAALCO Energy (NYSE:EGY) Shares Down 2.7%

VAALCO Energy, Inc. (NYSE:EGY)’s share price traded down 2.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $6.45 and last traded at $6.47. 651,013 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 1,055,024 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised VAALCO Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th.

VAALCO Energy Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.89. The firm has a market cap of $663.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 1.29.

VAALCO Energy (NYSE:EGY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The energy company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $149.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.53 million. VAALCO Energy had a net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 14.34%. As a group, research analysts expect that VAALCO Energy, Inc. will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VAALCO Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.063 per share. This is a positive change from VAALCO Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. VAALCO Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.64%.

Institutional Trading of VAALCO Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of VAALCO Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of VAALCO Energy during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in VAALCO Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. Navellier & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of VAALCO Energy in the third quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of VAALCO Energy by 34.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,609 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 4,020 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.32% of the company’s stock.

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.