Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE:CTRA) Short Interest Up 7.4% in March

Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE:CTRA) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 17,240,000 shares, a growth of 7.4% from the March 15th total of 16,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 7,130,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 2.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTRA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Coterra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Coterra Energy from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Coterra Energy from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Coterra Energy from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on Coterra Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.20.

Coterra Energy Stock Performance

CTRA stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.22. 5,464,958 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,945,805. Coterra Energy has a twelve month low of $22.91 and a twelve month high of $29.89. The company has a market capitalization of $20.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 0.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Coterra Energy (NYSE:CTRA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.06). Coterra Energy had a return on equity of 12.97% and a net margin of 27.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Coterra Energy will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Coterra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Coterra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. Coterra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Todd M. Roemer sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total value of $1,488,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 176,758 shares in the company, valued at $4,783,071.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Michael D. Deshazer sold 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.06, for a total transaction of $364,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 93,988 shares in the company, valued at $2,449,327.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Todd M. Roemer sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total value of $1,488,300.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 176,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,783,071.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Coterra Energy by 7.4% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 5,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Coterra Energy by 0.7% in the third quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 62,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Coterra Energy by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 1,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. SouthState Corp raised its stake in shares of Coterra Energy by 75.4% in the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 1,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Echo Street Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Coterra Energy by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Echo Street Capital Management LLC now owns 9,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. 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.