Best Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now


September 30, 2016: Markets opened higher again Friday after Deutsche Bank CEO John Cryan assured employees that the bank’s capital position was better and more liquid than it had been in 2007. Eight of 11 sectors traded in the green Friday, led by financials and energy. After recovering from sharp drop in the early hours, WTI crude oil for November delivery settled at $48.24 a barrel, up 0.9% for the day. WTI futures gained 7.9% for the month of September, but lost 0.2% for the third quarter. December gold closed down 0.7% on the day to settle at $1,317.10. The yellow metal finished the month up about 0.4% but lost nearly 0.3% over the course of the third quarter. Equities were headed for a higher close shortly before the bell as the DJIA traded up by 1.14% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 1.04%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.99%.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Friday was Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) which traded up 2.22% at $72.30. The stock’s 52-week range is $56.30 to $75.19. Volume was about 20% below the daily average of around 8.2 million shares. The company was raised to Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets this morning.

Best Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: Halliburton Company(HAL)


Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Halliburton (HAL) has gotten beaten up this year…and even today’s earnings beat doesn’t capable of reversing its fortunes.

    Getty Images

    Halliburton reported a profit of 4 cents, beating forecasts for 3 cents, on sales of $4.28 billion, narrowly edging expectations for $4.27 billion. Halliburton’s shares were trading higher before the market opened, but have declined have declined 0.3% to $46.90 at 1:56 p.m. today.


    Evercore ISI’s James West sees a “margin explosion” coming for Halliburton during the second half of the year, while comparing the oil-services giant to LeBron:

    With the start of the year already regarded as a transition period, we view the companys decision to sacrifice near term margins in order to accelerate long-term profitability and revenue growth as a defensive, yet calculated, and preemptive maneuver. Execution does remain a risk but naysayers seem to utter similar indecencies about LeBron James each year as the playoffs arrive. You dont doubt the king, and HAL is the clear market leader when it comes to NAM completions, in our view. The change in HALs reporting format makes syncing HALs commentary with its financials more difficult, but NAM comprised 68% and 61% of C&P revenues in 2014 and 2015, respectively (71% and 21% of EBIT). As such, the broader segment should be a good proxy for the region. Abatement of cost inflation, or at least a deceleration as we progress beyond the first step-change in activity of the cycle should serve as an additional tailwind for margins. The most likely benefit will come from proppant costs as sand mines resume processing finer mesh grades following the winter hiatus. Additional frac capacity is being reactivated at leading edge prices, evidenced by the fact that incremental margins improved throughout the first quarter, and the company continues to repair legacy contracts and commitments. The improvement of the broader po

  • [By Lisa Levin]

    Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) reported stronger-than-expected profit for its third quarter on Monday.

    Halliburton posted quarterly adjusted earnings of $0.42 per share on revenue of $5.44 billion. However, analysts expected earnings of $0.37 per share on revenue of $5.35 billion.

  • [By Tyler Crowe]

    2016 was an interesting year for Halliburton (NYSE:HAL). Not only did the oil-field services company work through one of the largest downturns in the history of oil and gas, but it also had to deal with the financial fallout from a major acquisition blowing up in its face. When it reported fourth-quarter and fiscal 2016 earnings this week, the company showed that it had taken a big blow, but was ready to move on to the next big thing in the oil and gas market. Let’s take a quick look at the company’s results for the year that was, and see what could be in store in the coming quarters.

  • [By Brett Hershman]

    Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) talked about the acceleration of data and services integration, an increased focus on improving margins and made no commitment toward price increases in the first quarter.

  • [By WWW.GURUFOCUS.COM]

    For the details of Packer & Co Ltd’s stock buys and sells, go to www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Packer+%26+Co+Ltd

    These are the top 5 holdings of Packer & Co LtdBall Corp (BLL) – 625,005 shares, 7.52% of the total portfolio. Hess Corp (HES) – 2,039,400 shares, 6.78% of the total portfolio. Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC) – 1,432,600 shares, 6.35% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 14.37%Citigroup Inc (C) – 604,500 shares, 6.34% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 11.04%General Electric Co (GE) – 1,118,800 shares, 5.98% o

Best Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: Transocean Inc.(RIG)


Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Jason Hall]

    April was another bad month for offshore drilling stocks. Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG), ENSCO Plc. (NYSE:ESV), Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE:DO), Atwood Oceanic Inc.(NYSE:ATW), and Noble Corporation (NYSE:NE) all held up relatively well through the first third of the month, but then start to fall around April 10.

  • [By Jon C. Ogg]

    Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) was last seen trading up 17.1% at $12.91. Its volume of more than 42 million shares equated to right at 3 times normal volume. Transocean has a consensus analyst price target of $9.72 and a 52-week trading range of $7.67 to $14.50. The company has a total market cap of $4.7 billion.

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Shares of Noble have jumped 12% to $7.41 at 2:58 a.m. today, and it’s success has helped boost offshore drillers across the board. Transocean (RIG) has advanced 1.6% to $13.41, Ensco (ESV) has gained 5.8% to $10.73, and Diamond Offshore Drilling (DO) has risen 4.5% to $17.43.

  • [By Paul Ausick]

    Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) dropped about 6.3% Wednesday to post a new 52-week low of $8.68 after closing Tuesday at $9.26. The 52-week high is $6.96. Volume rose to about 50% more than the daily average of about 12 million shares. The company had no specific news, but consolidation in the offshore drilling business is not a positive for Transocean or any other driller still standing by itself.

  • [By Teresa Rivas]

    Transocean (RIG) is rising Thursday afternoon, thanks to an upbeat fourth quarter.

    Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

    The oilfield services company said it earned 63 cents a share (a figure that excludes $13 million in net unfavorable items), well ahead of the nickel a share in earnings analysts expected. Revenue fell 47.4% year over year to $974 million, also above the $806 million consensus estimate. Transocean said its contract backlog was $11.3 billion as of its February fleet status report. Raymond Jamess Praveen Narra and J. Marshall Adkins reiterated an Underperform rating on the stock following the report. They praised the companys ongoing cost controls and strong revenue efficiency, which they expect to continue. But still arent ready to recommend the stock amid a difficult macro backdrop. More detail from their note:


    Transocean continued to minimize costs and maximize efficiency amid a challenging offshore environment, reporting 4Q16 adjusted EBITDA of $414 million, higher than our estimate of $363 million and consensus of $394 million. The beat was driven by lower than expected costs of $344 million (adjusting for favorable litigation), which came in ~12% lower than our estimate of $385 million and guidance of guidance of $375-385 million. Total revenue efficiency came in at 100.3%, as it was boosted by bonus incentives and possibly effective results from the new contracting model, particularly in the high-spec jackup market. The beat to our estimates was also driven by higher than anticipated revenues, which came in at $805 million, above our estimate of $788 million, but below the consensus estimate of $812 million. We note, our adjusted revenue excludes $169 million in early termination fees during the quarter.


    The shares are up 6.6% to $14.16 in recent trading, although theyre down 4% year to date.

  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    The stock market lost ground on Monday, sending major market benchmarks lower by more than half a percentage point. The Dow lost its grip on the 20,000 mark in the wake of concerns about economic growth and new U.S. immigration policy, and some believe that the broader geopolitical climate could have a negative impact on global commerce that in turn could start affecting multinational corporations’ business prospects. In addition, bad news from some individual companies weighed on the markets, and Transocean (NYSE:RIG), Rite Aid (NYSE:RAD), and New Gold (NYSEMKT:NGD) were among the worst performers on the day. Below, we’ll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so poorly.

Best Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: ConocoPhillips(COP)


Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]

    In the Lightning Round, Cramer was bullish on Salesforce.com (CRM) , Paccar (PCAR) , Cummins (CMI) , ConocoPhillips (COP) , Adobe Systems (ADBE) , Annaly Capital (NLY) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) .

  • [By Chris Lange]

    The number of ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) shares short increased to 15.87 million from the previous level of 13.22 million. Shares were trading at $44.10, within a 52-week range of $38.19 to $53.17.

  • [By Chris Dier-Scalise]

    Among the brands being sold were Alcoa Corporation (NYSE: AA) and Ford Motor Company(NYSE: F), which both paid out dividends in December. The financial and oil sectors also experienced a sell-off to finish 2016. Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE: WFC) and Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) were net sold as each reached new year-to-date highs and investors unloaded ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) and Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) as their prices normalized with the rise in the price of oil.

  • [By Matthew DiLallo]

    Meanwhile, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) also abandoned its leases in the Chukchi Sea earlier this year. It paid $506 million for the 98 leases off Alaska’s northern coast in 2008 and had plans to drill its first exploratory well in 2014 but dropped those ambitions due to regulatory uncertainty. It has also since decided to exit deepwater exploration altogether after drilling a string of dry holes in the Gulf of Mexico, offshore Angola, and the Canadian Atlantic, Instead, ConocoPhillips plans to focus its future development efforts on lower-risk onshore shale development.

  • [By Spencer Israel]

    And these were the most popular sells:

    Bristol-Myers Squibb Co(NYSE: BMY)
    Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE)
    Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD)
    ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP)
    Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX)
    The following chart shows the IMX performance since it's inception at the end of 2012. You can see how it's generally correlated to the broader equities market. 

  • [By Benzinga News Desk]

    Last year was brutal for hedge fund investors — but you wouldn’t know it from the fund managers’ paychecks: Link


    ECONOMIC DATA
    The MBA’s index of mortgage application activity for the latest week is schedule for release at 7:00 a.m. ET.
    The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.
    ANALYST RATINGS
    Jefferies Upgraded ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) from Hold to Buy
    JPMorgan Upgraded Clovis Oncology (NASDAQ: CLVS) From Neutral to Overweight
    Morgan Stanley Upgrades TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) From Equal-Weight to Overweight
    Macquarie Downgraded Disney (NYSE: DIS) from Outperform to Neutral
    Deutsche Bank Downgraded AvalonBay (NYSE: AVB) from Buy to Hold
    Wells Fargo Downgrades Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR) From Outperform To Market Perform


    This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here or email minutes@benzinga.com.

Best Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: Whiting Petroleum Corporation(WLL)

Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Whiting Petroleum (WLL) has gained 2.9% to $8.30 after reporting a smaller-than-expected loss.


    Weight Watchers International (WTW) has jumped 7.9% to $21.75 after hiring HSN’sMindy Grossman as its new CEO.

  • [By Lisa Levin]

    In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 1.43 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Westmoreland Coal Company (NYSE: WLB), down 9 percent, and Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE: WLL), down 7 percent.

  • [By Lisa Levin]

    In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 0.62 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. (NYSE: TOO), down 9 percent, and Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE: WLL), down 7 percent.

  • [By Paul Ausick]

    Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) dropped about 6.4% Wednesday to register a new 52-week low of $4.36 after closing at $4.66 on Tuesday. The 52-week high is $13.39. Volume was around 19 million, about 15% below the daily average. The company had no specific news.

Best Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: Apache Corporation(APA)

Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Chris Lange]

    The S&P 500 stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Tuesday was Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) which traded down over 7% at $42.51. The stocks 52-week range is $38.14 to $69.00. Volume was over 14 million versus the daily average of 3.4 million shares.

  • [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]

    Cramer and the Action Alerts PLUS team say they still believe in their embattled Permian names, Cimarex (XEC) and Apache (APA) , both of which have benefited from a slow rotation in recent weeks. These names can produce and profit here. Schlumberger (SLB) remains best in class and Magellan Midstream Partners just might be the best way to play oil given that the pipelines will be needed to transport the new wave of oil able to be drawn out of the ground from increasingly efficient American producers. Get in on the discussion by getting a free trial subscription to Action Alerts PLUS.

  • [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]

    Cramer and the AAP team say news and caution are weighing on energy and health-care sectors. Find out what they’re telling their investment club members about Apache (APA) , Cimarex (XEC) , Arconic (ARNC) and Allergan (AGN) with a free trial subscription to Action Alerts PLUS.

  • [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]

    Cramer and Jack Mohr think Apache’s (APA) management has positioned the company for growth through both innovation and efficiency. Read what they are telling their investment club members with a free subscription to Action Alerts PLUS.

Best Oil Stocks To Watch Right Now: Range Resources Corporation(RRC)


Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Matthew DiLallo]

    According to a report by PLS, producers spent more than $23 billion locking up prime positions in the Permian Basin and another $7 billion on Mid-Continent acreage acquisitions. However, most of those were smaller deals, with the top transaction weighing in at $2.5 billion. Meanwhile, the Ark-La-Tex region near the Gulf Coast quietly tied for the second hottest M&A geography in the country, largely because of Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) acquisition of Memorial Resource Development. Range Resources paid $4.2 billion, which includes the assumption of debt, to gain a leading position in the Lower Cotton Valley region of Northern Louisiana. Not only is the play saturated with natural gas, but it’s also near the Gulf Coast, which is expected to see increased demand from new petrochemical and industrial complexes as well as LNG export facilities. In other words, Range Resources made a big bet on higher gas prices along the Gulf Coast.

  • [By Chris Lange]

    The S&P 500 stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Wednesday was Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC) which traded downabout 12% at $17.90. The stocks 52-week range is $17.68 to $43.60. Volume was about 25 million versus the daily average of 5.6 million shares.

  • [By Paul Ausick]

    Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC) dropped about 0.3% Friday to post a new 52-week low of $15.91 after closing at $15.95 on Thursday. The stock’s 52-week high is $39.64. Volume of around 5 million was about a third below the daily average. The forecast for natural gas demand is low and the front month contract is at its lowest point of the year. Shares have reversed their direction and are on track to post a daily gain of about 0.8%.

  • [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]

    Range Resources (RRC) was upgraded to outperform at BMO. $44 price target The valuation is more attractive, as business fundamentals are improving, BMO said. 

  • [By Paul Ausick]

    Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC) dropped about 4.1% Friday to post a new 52-week low of $15.33 after closing at $15.99 on Thursday. The stock’s 52-week high is $36.40. Volume of about 8.5 million was about 15% above the daily average. The increase in natural gas drilling rigs this week is not good for companies like Range Resources that are gas-weighted producers.

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