Kodiak Gas Sciences stock goes public, nearly 3% below where the IPO priced

Shares of Kodiak Gas Sciences Inc. went public with a thud, as they opened 2.8% below where the oil and gas production equipment maker’s initial public offering price. The company raised $256 million as it sold 16 million shares at $16 each, well below the expected pricing range of between $19 and $22. The stock’s first trade was at $15.56 at 12:30 p.m. Eastern for 1.1 million shares. At that price, the company was valued at about $1.2 billion. The company went public at a time of relatively strong investor interest in IPO stocks, as the Renaissance IPO ETF
IPO,
-1.10%
has rallied 15.0% over the past three months while the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.37%
has tacked on 9.1%.