Kodiak Gas Services (NYSE:KGS) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Shares of Kodiak Gas Services, Inc. (NYSE:KGS) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday . Approximately 753,785 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 45% from the previous session’s volume of 520,351 shares.The stock last traded at $35.71 and had previously closed at $35.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Kodiak Gas Services in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Kodiak Gas Services from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup started coverage on Kodiak Gas Services in a research report on Friday, September 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James raised their price target on Kodiak Gas Services from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Kodiak Gas Services in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.64.

Kodiak Gas Services Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $30.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 124.18 and a beta of 0.79.

Kodiak Gas Services (NYSE:KGS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.29). Kodiak Gas Services had a return on equity of 7.91% and a net margin of 2.23%. The firm had revenue of $309.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.88 million. Analysts forecast that Kodiak Gas Services, Inc. will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kodiak Gas Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Kodiak Gas Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 565.54%.

Institutional Trading of Kodiak Gas Services

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Kodiak Gas Services by 444.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,889,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,804,000 after acquiring an additional 3,991,630 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. raised its holdings in Kodiak Gas Services by 1,358.3% during the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 644,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,613,000 after purchasing an additional 600,055 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in Kodiak Gas Services in the first quarter valued at $11,544,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kodiak Gas Services during the third quarter worth about $9,741,000. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its position in Kodiak Gas Services by 74.8% in the 2nd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 780,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,279,000 after purchasing an additional 334,086 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.95% of the company’s stock.

About Kodiak Gas Services

Kodiak Gas Services, Inc operates contract compression infrastructure for customers in the oil and gas industry in the United States. It operates in two segments, Compression Operations and Other Services. The Compression Operations segment operates company-owned and customer-owned compression infrastructure to enable the production, gathering, and transportation of natural gas and oil.