Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE:CTRA) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE:CTRA) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 20,540,000 shares, a growth of 18.4% from the December 15th total of 17,350,000 shares. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 5,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Coterra Energy Price Performance

Shares of CTRA traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.51. The stock had a trading volume of 9,047,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,264,813. The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.56. Coterra Energy has a 52 week low of $22.30 and a 52 week high of $29.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.27.

Coterra Energy (NYSE:CTRA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.03). Coterra Energy had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 21.91%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Coterra Energy will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

Coterra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Coterra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CTRA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Coterra Energy from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Coterra Energy from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Coterra Energy from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Coterra Energy from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Coterra Energy from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kevin William Smith sold 29,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.16, for a total value of $775,460.88. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,016,282. The trade was a 27.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Adam M. Vela sold 16,435 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.76, for a total transaction of $439,800.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 72,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,937,664.84. The trade was a 18.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coterra Energy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Coterra Energy by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,156,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,645,000 after acquiring an additional 305,626 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Coterra Energy by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 159,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,079,000 after purchasing an additional 9,115 shares during the period. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC acquired a new position in Coterra Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $575,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Coterra Energy by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,147,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,425,000 after purchasing an additional 64,753 shares during the period. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Coterra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,267,000. Institutional investors own 87.92% of the company’s stock.

About Coterra Energy

Coterra Energy Inc, an independent oil and gas company, engages in the development, exploration, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company’s properties include the Marcellus Shale with approximately 186,000 net acres in the dry gas window of the play located in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania; Permian Basin properties with approximately 296,000 net acres located in west Texas and southeast New Mexico; and Anadarko Basin properties with approximately 182,000 net acres located in Oklahoma.