24/7 Wall St. » CRZO

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AFL, CRZO, EBAY, EJ, FSLR, HAIN, LULU, PCAR, RCI, CRM, SI, SRDX, SYMC)

Administrator — Fri, 25 May 2012 11:45:23 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls this Friday. No analyst calls will be made on Monday in the United States as it is a market holiday in observance of Memorial Day.

Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL) Maintained Buy but cut target price down from $75 to $63 at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) Reinstated as Neutral with $30 target at Credit Suisse.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) Maintained Buy with $44 target at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

E-House China Holdings Limited (NYSE: EJ) Reinstated as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Reiterated Buy with $30 target at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) Started as Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphreys.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.

PACCAR (NASDAQ: PCAR) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.

Rogers Communications (NYSE: RCI) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

SurModics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SRDX) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) Maintained Neutral with $20 target at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

Here were Thursday’s Five Highly Unusual Upgrades and Downgrades which really stood out or which moved stocks.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox. We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AFL, CRM, CRZO, EBAY, EJ, FSLR, HAIN, LULU, PCAR, RCI, SI, SRDX, SYMC

Atlas Resource Partners Acquires Barnett Shale Assets (ARP, CRZO, ATLS)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:44:02 +0000

Independent oil & gas partnership Atlas Resource Partners L.P. (NYSE: ARP) has agreed to purchase approximately 277 billion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas resources from Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) for about $190 million. The assets are located in the Barnett shale play in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Atlas Energy L.P. (NYSE: ATLS) yesterday completed a distribution of about 19.6% of the common units of Atlas Resource Partners to unitholders of Atlas Energy. Atlas Resource Partners commenced “regular way” trading on the NYSE yesterday.

Atlas is paying about $0.69/thousand cubic feet equivalent of natural gas for 198 producing wells on more than 12,000 acres. The assets are 99% natural gas with 52% being proved and developed. Current net production is about 36 million cubic feet equivalent/day.

At the same time, Atlas announced an increase in its distributions to limited partners. The company will raise its distribution from $0.80/common unit for the second half of 2012 to a range of $0.85-$0.90. The company had previously guided full-year distributions of $1.60/common unit.

For fiscal year 2013, Atlas is guiding distributions at $2.25-$2.40/common unit, an increase of 45% over the original 2012 guidance of $1.60/common unit.

Atlas will pay for the acquisition with proceeds from a private placement of 6 million common units at $20 each and borrowing from its revolving credit facility.

Atlas shares closed yesterday at $21.51 in a 52-week range of $20.00-$23.90.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Oil & Gas Tagged: ARP, CRZO

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AAPL, NEM, DNDN, CHTR, APOL, COST, PCLN, HFC, AZO, CRZO, DPZ, ODP, SAFM, RDC, TECD, YRCW, ALIM, TBET, SUMR, PEIX, CECO)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 21:14:49 +0000

Stocks started the day nearly flat before turning down on a poor report on US durable goods orders (more coverage here) and a slide in the Case-Shiller home price index (more coverage here). The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index came in much stronger than expected, however, and all the indexes had turned positive by mid-morning (more coverage here). The tech sector, led by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), which posted a new 52-week high over $543/share, carried the rest of the market higher. Crude oil was lower today, with WTI crude lower by -1.9% at $106.55/barrel and Brent crude down -1.92% at $121.79/barrel. Gold settled up 0.8% at $1,788.40/ounce, the yellow metal’s highest close since more than three months.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 24 points to 13,005.12 (0.18%), the NASDAQ rose more than 20 points (0.69%) to 2,986.76, and the S&P 500 rose 0.34% or nearly 5 points to 1,372.18.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) cut to ‘hold’ at TD; Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN) maintained as ‘neutral’ but target price cut to $13 at Credit Suisse; Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR) maintained as ‘outperform’ and target price raised from $60 to $74 at Credit Suisse; Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) raised to ‘overweight’ at Barclays; and Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) started as ‘perform’ at Oppenheimer.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) is up nearly 7% at $632.78 after posting a new 52-week high of $637.88 earlier today (more coverage here); HollyFrontier Corp. (NYSE: HFC) is down -3.7% at $31.91 (more coverage here); Autozone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) is up 2.7% at $375.94 after posting a new 52-week high of $377.78; Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) is down -0.5% at $27.47; Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) is up nearly 16% at $38.88 after posting a new 52-week high of $38.90 earlier today (more coverage here); Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) is up nearly 19% at $3.58; Sanderson Farms Inc. (NASDAQ: SAFM) is down -1.5% at $48.72; Rowan Companies Inc. (NYSE: RDC) is down -6% at $36.20; TechData Corp. (NASDAQ: TECD) is down -6.7% at $53.62; and YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) is down -13% at $10.31.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Alimera Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: ALIM) is up about 76% at $4.06. The eyecare drug maker received a positive outcome from a European regulatory body for its ILUVIEN treatment.

Tibet Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: TBET) is up 14% at $1.71. The drug maker is being taken private by its CEO and chairman for $3/share.

Summer Infant Inc. (NASDAQ: SUMR) is up nearly 25% at $5.98. The maker of branded juvenile products announced better than expected earnings this morning.

Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) is down more than -26% at $1.19. The ethanol maker’s reported earnings fell short of expectations. More coverage here.

Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ: CECO) is down more than -18% at $9.17. The for-profit education company posted a weak earnings report this morning.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, Dallas Fed president Richard Fisher, and Philadelphia Fed president Charles Plosser are giving speeches. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
8:30 a.m. – US GDP
9:45 a.m. – Chicago PMI
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
2:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve Beige Book
3:00 p.m. – Farm prices

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: AAPL, ALIM, APOL, AZO, CECO, CHTR, COST, CRZO, DNDN, DPZ, HFC, NEM, ODP, PCLN, PEIX, RDC, SAFM, SUMR, TBET, TECD, YRCW

Chesapeake Sells Utica Shale Stake to Total (CHK, TOT, BP, PXP, SD, CRZO)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:34:29 +0000

In yet another of the deals that shakes up the landscape of US shale gas production, Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) has formed a joint venture with Total SA (NYSE: TOT) and privately held Enervest in which the French oil giant will pay $2.32 billion for a 25% stake in 619,000 net acres in production from the Utica shale gas play in eastern Ohio. Chesapeake has already done a deal with Total in the Barnett shale play in Texas, as well as deals with BP plc (NYSE: BP) and Plains Exploration & Production Co. (NYSE: PXP) in Arkansas, and Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO) in the Marcellus shale play in Pennsylvania.

Chesapeake isn’t alone in doing these joint venture deals. SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) and Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) have also recently sold stakes in shale gas plays.

In the latest deal, Total paid Chesapeake about $610 million in cash and will spend an additional $1.42 billion on drilling and completion costs anticipated through the end of 2014.

In the press announcement, Chesapeake’s CEO enumerated the company’s joint ventures and their value:

This Utica transaction is our seventh significant JV and in these seven JVs, Chesapeake has sold approximately 1.5 million net acres for total leasehold consideration of $14.8 billion while retaining 3.6 million net acres as of the JV date with an indicated value by the JV partners of $45.7 billion.

The Utica shale play, like the Eagle Ford play in south Texas, is liquids rich and far more valuable due to the high price companies can get for both the natural gas liquids and the oil that can be extracted using hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

But production companies may have hit a snag in Ohio. On Saturday, a 4.0-magnitude earthquake hit the Youngstown, Ohio, area and led to the state’s closure of all 177 waste water injection wells. There is some concern that the practice of injecting the recovered fracking fluids back into the ground is causing some of the quakes that have occurred in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and Texas.

The injection wells in Ohio are about 9,000 feet below the surface, making any risk to drinking water extremely small. A recent US EPA report on groundwater contamination from fracking in Pavillion, Wyoming, studing wells less than 300 feet below the surface.

Chesapeake’s latest joint venture, combined with the sale of its pipeline assets in the Marcellus shale announced last week, puts about $3.2 billion onto the company’s books. Chesapeake intends to garner about $7 billion in 2012 by selling assets, holding an IPO for its own oil field services company, and creating joint ventures. The company also plans to increase production by 30%. The goal is to reduce its outstanding debt by 25%.

Chesapeak’s shares are up nearly 3.5% in pre-market trading this morning, at $23.05 in a 52-week range of $22.00-$35.95.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Oil & Gas Tagged: BP, CHK, CRZO, PXP, SD, TOT

24/7 Wall St. Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades of the Week (AVL, BRK-B, CRZO, DPZ, GILD, GT, GOOG, GMCR, HPQ, LULU, RIMM, SINA, WDC)

Administrator — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 12:31:31 +0000

This last week had some very interesting and influential analyst calls. We compile summaries of many top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations each morning from Wall Street research calls and we then review these at the end of each week. Those calls which stand out the most become the Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades of the Week. This was a wild week and ended up being a massive gainer due to the coordinated central banking efforts meant at keeping liquidity in the capital markets in Europe.

The top calls of the week were seen in the following companies: Avalon Rare Metals Inc. (AMEX: AVL); Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B); Carrizo Oil & Gas (NASDAQ: CRZO); Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE: DPZ); Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD); Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: GT); Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG); Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR); Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ); Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU); Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM); Sina Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA); and Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC).

We have outlined the research summaries here on each, and we have added color or linked to more details on the calls if applicable.

Avalon Rare Metals Inc. (AMEX: AVL) is considered the speculative step child in the field of rare-earth metals. Still, this week came coverage from Citigroup with a “Buy” rating this last Monday. The prior closing price had been $2.63 and the stock ramped mid-week. The high close was $3.34 on Wednesday even though it closed down over 5% on Friday at $3.05. The high close in the week would have given a gain of 27% and the gain for the week was still up 16%. The 52-week range is $2.29 to $10.11, making this a leveraged call with huge upside if things work out at the company.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B) very rarely shows up in research calls, so it was a surprise when Zacks came out and named Warren Buffett conglomerate as the Bull of the Day with a $91.00 target for the next six-months.

Carrizo Oil & Gas (NASDAQ: CRZO) was only a reiterated Buy rating on Thursday by Canaccord Genuity but the implications offer huge upside if the firm is right. The firm called it a top small cap idea with multiple ways to win and with a “valuation too tepid.” The new $49.00 price target implies upside of 71%.

Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) was a cautious call because of valuation, but it may offer insight into how much investors should be willing to pay for the pizza delivery leader. The stock was started as Hold at KeyBanc on Friday, which was also the day that this hit a 5-year high. 24/7 Wall St. originally went out with the “buy the value here” call early in 2011 when shares were under $20.00 and we had already taken this one off the list because of value concerns. Friday’s call may point to more and more peak-values here.

Filed under: Analyst Calls, The Week, Value Investing Tagged: AVL, BRK-B, CRZO, DPZ, GILD, GMCR, GOOG, GT, HPQ, LULU, RIMM, SINA, WDC

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (GOOG, IAG, ERTS, STX, ONXX, CRZO, GIL, BKS, LULU, ISLE, KR, TLB, PEIX, LAVA, CLWR, STNG, HOVNP)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:05:52 +0000

Equity markets opened slightly lower this morning, following yesterday’s big share price increases. For most of the day stocks traded slightly lower, although they have moved to a very slight gain in the final hour of trading. China’s purchasing managers index was weaker than expected, which is probably the reason for the slow start this morning, and then new US unemployment claims were higher than expected adding more pressure on prices. The dollar has traded weaker relative to the euro, but strengthened against the yen. Crude oil is trading down marginally at $100.18/barrel and gold is also down slightly at $1,743.870/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 25 points to 12,020.48 (-0.21%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 6 points (0.22%) to 2,626.20, and the S&P 500 fell -0.19% or more than 2 points to 1,244.58.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup. Other ratings action included IAMGOLD Corp. (NYSE: IAG) started as ‘outperform’ with a $25 price target at Credit Suisse; Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) raised from ‘neutral’ to ‘buy’ at Citigroup; Seagate Technology PLC (NYSE: STX) raised to ‘buy’ at Argus; Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) cut from ‘buy’ to ‘neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; and Carrizo Oil & Gas (NASDAQ: CRZO) reiterated ‘buy’ with a new price target of $49 at Canaccord Genuity.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE: GIL) is down -30.8% at $16.53, after setting a new 52-week low of $16.52; Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) is down -16.9% at $14.50; Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) is down -4.8% at $47.34; Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISLE) is down -8.5% at $4.51; The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) is up 1% at $23.41; and The Talbot’s Inc. (NYSE: TLB) is down -17.1% at $1.65, after posting a new 52-week low of $1.63. We have more details on Lululemon’s earnings and on the November sales reports from a number of retailers, including Talbot’s.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) is up 26.7% at $1.33. The ethanol maker has regained compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements and has increased ownership of its four ethanol production plants to 27%.

Magma Design Automation Inc. (NASDAQ: LAVA) is up more than 25% at $7.16. The design automation firm has agreed to be acquired by Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS) for $7.35/share.

Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is up more than 17% at $2.09. The wireless broadband provider received a $1.6 billion investment from its majority owner Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) that will enable Clearwire to meet its $237 million debt payment. We have more details here.

Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE: STNG) are down more than -20% at $5.31. The Monaco-based petroleum shipping company priced a secondary offering this morning at $5.50/share.

Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: HOVNP) is down more than -14% at $1.31. The homebuilder has been batted around for nearly a year now, and even improving news on construction spending can’t stop the slide.

Stay tuned for Friday. We have noted speeches due from Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher, Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser, and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren. Here’s another noteworthy event scheduled for tomorrow (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Non-farm payroll report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: BKS, CLWR, CRZO, ERTS, GIL, GOOG, HOVNP, IAG, ISLE, KR, LAVA, LULU, ONXX, PEIX, STNG, STX, TLB

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AGN, CRZO, XRAY, DWA, ERTS, IAG, GOOG, LLTC, ONXX, STX, SIG, VRSN, YHOO, DGI, GEOY)

Administrator — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:34:55 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Thursday morning.

Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Carrizo Oil & Gas (NASDAQ: CRZO) is named as a top small cap idea with multiple ways to win and with a “valuation too tepid” and firm reiterated a Buy rating and gave a new target of $49.00 by Canaccord Genuity.
DENTSPLY International (NASDAQ: XRAY) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (NASDAQ: DWA) Cut to Average at Caris & Co.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.
IAMGOLD Corp (NYSE: IAG) Started as Outperform with $25.00 price target objective at Credit Suisse.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: LLTC) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) Cut to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Seagate Technology PLC (NYSE: STX) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE: SIG) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) named as aggressive growth stock of the day at Zacks.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) maintained Buy with an $18.00 price target objective at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

In the field of satellite imaging, Canaccord Genuity cut its ambitions due to austerity cuts: DigitalGlobe (NYSE: DGI) was maintained at Buy but the target was cut to $23.50; GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY) was maintained as Hold and the target wass lowered to $22.00 per share.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AGN, CRZO, DGI, DWA, ERTS, GEOY, GOOG, IAG, LLTC, ONXX, SIG, STX, VRSN, XRAY, YHOO

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ARX, AMSF, AMAT, MT, BP, BTI, CRZO, LFC, DOLE, ITMN, LNKD, MCD, MHP, NCR, ONXX, PTEN, PAA)

Administrator — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 12:21:01 +0000

These are some of this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen having an impact from Wall Street research calls.

Aeroflex Holding Corp. (NYSE: ARX) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Amerisafe, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMSF) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
BP PLC (NYSE: BP) Started as Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
British American Tobacco plc (NYSE: BTI) Raised to Overweight at CRedit Suisse.
Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LFC) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Dole Food Company Inc. (NYSE: DOLE) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Intermune, Inc (NASDAQ: ITMN) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Started as Hold at Argus.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) Reiterated Buy with $102 target at Argus.
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (NYSE: MHP) Raised to Buy at Argus.
NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) Started as Buy at Oppenheimer.
Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEN) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE: PAA) is the Value stock of the day at Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AMAT, AMSF, ARX, BP, BTI, CRZO, DOLE, ITMN, LFC, LNKD, MCD, MHP, MT, NCR, ONXX, PAA, PTEN

Key Value Stocks In Energy (CRZO, KOG, HNR, CWEI, HK, PDS, DVR, XOM)

Administrator — Fri, 27 May 2011 16:18:28 +0000

As the long holiday weekend rolls in, we thought we’d take a look at some oil, gas, and energy services stocks that might offer good value in the medium term. We’ve focused on five oil and gas companies that produce hydrocarbons and two services companies: Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO), Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. (AMEX: KOG), Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: HNR), Clayton Williams Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: CWEI), Petrohawk Energy Corp. (NYSE: HK), Precision Drilling Corp. (NYSE: PDS), and Cal Dive International, Inc. (NYSE: DVR).

Just this week we featured Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) as being a solid value stock pick based upon peers set to benefit from this year;s driving trends, but the focus today is on an expansive list of energy companies. These companies have fairly low forward P/E ratios that could belie their true value and there are generally other driving factors as well. SOme picks will seem controversial on the surface but that is what the explanations are for in the analysis.

Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) explores for oil and gas primarily in the US, but also has a stake in North Sea exploration. The company’s primary holdings are in the Barnett shale, the Marcellus shale, and the Eagle Ford shale. The company’s trailing P/E ratio is negative, and its forward P/E is a meagre 7.87. It’s solid position in the Eagle Ford, a liquids-rich play, argues for a higher valuation.

Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. (AMEX: KOG), like Carrizo, has holdings in some of the most liquids-rich gas plays in the US, with a particularly strong position in the Williston Basin’s Bakken shale. The company’s trailing P/E ratio, like Carrizo’s, is negative and its forward P/E is 8.04. And again like Carrizo, Kodiak needs to face rising cost issues. The break-even Nymex price for natural gas is more than $4.40/thousand cubic feet, but liquids-rich plays like the Eagle Ford and the Bakken practically assure solid returns, provided costs can be kept under control.

Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: HNR) is a more global explorer for oil and gas, and does have exposure in Venezuela, which is probably why its trailing P/E ratio is negative and its forward P/E is 8.20. Investor George Soros more than doubled his stake in Harvest during the first quarter of 2011.

Clayton Williams Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: CWEI) is an oil and gas explorer that operates mainly in Louisiana and Texas. The company’s trailing P/E is 75 and its forward P/E is 8.16. The company reduced its guidance following a poor quarter where results were hit by rising costs. What makes the company a reasonable value at its current price is its heavy weighting toward oil production, which accounts for nearly 75% of its total production. Liquids are where the money is.

Petrohawk Energy Corp. (NYSE: HK) is another significant player in the Eagle Ford shale play in south Texas. The company’s P/E ratio is a blinding 252.31, while its forward P/E is 15.81. That’s still a little rich, but Petrohawk is very focused on liquids, it holds more than 330,000 net acres in the Eagle Ford play, and, maybe best of all, with a market cap of around $8 billion it could be a takeover target for one of the big oil guys.

Precision Drilling Corp. (NYSE: PDS) is an onshore drilling company that focuses on North American services. The company’s trailing P/E is a robust 58.05 and its forward P/E is 13.27. Drillers, particularly onshore drillers not affected by the moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico, have done well this year. Precision has boosted its rig utilization rate so far this year and expects to bring another dozen rigs online in 2011, with 11 going to Canada.

Cal Dive International, Inc. (NYSE: DVR) just posted dismal earnings for the first quarter. It’s trailing P/E is negative and its forward P/E is 13.27. The company has been hit by the moratorium on Gulf drilling, but it provides underwater services that are not widely available and, thus, the company has surprisingly strong pricing power. Once drilling starts up again, Cal Dive ought to perform a lot better.

An ending with a driving season note, have a great holiday weekend.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Oil & Gas, Value Investing Tagged: CRZO, CWEI, DVR, HK, HNR, KOG, PDS, XOM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ARCO, CPB, CRZO, CIM, CYH, EWBC, ENER, FGP, HPQ, HUM, KBR, MOS, MYL, PAAS, CRM, THC, ZIP)

Administrator — Tue, 24 May 2011 12:35:49 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Tuesday morning.

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ARCO) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley; started as Buy at Citi; Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Community Health Systems. Inc. (NYSE: CYH) Reinstated as Outperform with $35 target at Credit Suisse.
East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: EWBC) Cut to Neutral with $21 target at Credit Suisse.
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) Cut estimates and target to $1.50 at Credit Suisse.
Ferrellgas Partners (NYSE: FGP) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) Cut to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Humana, Inc. (NYSE: HUM) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
KBR INc. (NYSE: KBR) Added to Goldman Sachs Conviction Buy List.
Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) Reinstated as Outperform with $85 target at Credit Suisse.
Mylan Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) Raised to Buy with $29 target at Argus.
Pan American Silver Corporation (NASDAQ: PAAS) Maintained Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) Reinstated as Outperform with $7.50 target at Credit Suisse; Started as Neutral at BofA/ML.
Zipcar, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZIP) Started as Outperform with $30 target at Oppenheimer; Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

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JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ARCO, CIM, CPB, CRM, CRZO, CYH, ENER, EWBC, FGP, HPQ, HUM, KBR, MOS, MYL, PAAS, THC, ZIP