Oasis Petroleum Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

[Lemonhawk]

Sigh...

Wall street traders just playing their games ?

Oasis Petroleum Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest (OAS)

Oasis Petroleum (NYSE:OAS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 26,673,391 shares, an increase of 18.0% from the March 13th total of 22,605,920 shares, StockRatingsNetwork reports. Approximately 20.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 9,671,638 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

OAS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Analysts at Nomura initiated coverage on shares of Oasis Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Analysts at Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on shares of Oasis Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. They set a “sell” rating and a $9.50 price target on the stock. Analysts at Citigroup Inc. raised their price target on shares of Oasis Petroleum from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, analysts at SunTrust upgraded shares of Oasis Petroleum from a “reduce” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Oasis Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.12.

Oasis Petroleum (NYSE:OAS) opened at 16.47 on Thursday. Oasis Petroleum has a 52 week low of $10.64 and a 52 week high of $58.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15. and its 200-day moving average is $19.. The company has a market cap of $1.69 billion and a P/E ratio of 3.26.

Oasis Petroleum (NYSE:OAS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $299.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $341.08 million. On average, analysts predict that Oasis Petroleum will post $0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oasis Petroleum Inc is an exploration and production company. The Company is focused on the acquisition and development of unconventional oil and natural gas resources in the North Dakota and Montana regions of the Williston Basin. As of December 31, 2013, the Company has accumulated 515,314 net leasehold acres in the Williston Basin.

http://tickerreport.com/banking-finance ... erest-oas/

[dan_s]

Take a look at my forecast model for OAS, which you can find under the Sweet 16 tab. I now think my forecast as of 3/14/2015 will prove to be conservative. OAS should generate positive earnings per share and close to $4.00 operating cash flow per share this year, more than enough to service their debt and fund about 70% of this year's capital program.

~75% of their oil production for the first two quarters of this year is hedged at $91.60/bbl. First quarter results will include a big realized gain on their hedges.

Here is what First Call is currently showing for 2015 earnings per share and cash flow per share (they are both above my forecast):
$0.70 EPS (compared to my forecast of $0.36)
$5.04 CFPS (compared to my forecast of $3.85)

If OAS reports decent first quarter results and oil prices firm up, we have the making of a big short covering rally.

A large short position is not always a negative for the stock. Remember, shorts must eventually cover their positions.

[Lemonhawk]

I assume some want to knock it down and then buy it cheap.....

[dan_s]

Possible. Where I think the shorts are exposed on OAS is that it is a prime takeover target. Companies like this with big acreage blocks, much of it now held by production, is exactly what we were looking for when I was at Hess. In fact, I bet Hess is taking a hard look at it now.
If a large-cap makes a run at OAS, the shorts will get killed.