YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) Upgraded by Citigroup to “Buy” Rating

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) was upgraded by equities researchers at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $48.00 price objective on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $44.00. Citigroup’s target price points to a potential upside of 31.69% from the company’s previous close.

YPF has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, HSBC raised YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $33.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.30.

YPF Sociedad Anónima Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:YPF opened at $36.45 on Monday. YPF Sociedad Anónima has a 12-month low of $16.18 and a 12-month high of $47.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.67. The firm has a market cap of $14.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.41, a PEG ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.89.

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 7th. The oil and gas exploration company reported ($0.74) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($1.25). The firm had revenue of $4.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.86 billion. YPF Sociedad Anónima had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 32.76%. Equities analysts anticipate that YPF Sociedad Anónima will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On YPF Sociedad Anónima

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in YPF Sociedad Anónima by 335.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,091,392 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $46,395,000 after acquiring an additional 840,842 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima during the 4th quarter worth $2,927,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima during the fourth quarter worth $2,244,000. Fourth Sail Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima in the fourth quarter valued at $5,667,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,427 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. 10.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

YPF Sociedad Anónima Company Profile

YPF Sociedad Anónima, an energy company, engages in the oil and gas upstream and downstream activities in Argentina. Its upstream operations include the exploration, exploitation, and production of crude oil, and natural gas. The company’s downstream operations include petrochemical production and crude oil refining; transportation and distribution refined and petrochemical products; commercialization of crude oil, petrochemical products, and specialties.