Gastar (GST)

[dan_s]

I am working on MarkWest Energy Partners LP (MWE). For those of you that own GST, you need to look at the PowerPoint slides that MWE spoke from at their June 3, 2015 Analyst Day. Take a hard look at slide 16 and then go look at where Gastar's leasehold in the Utica and Marcellus sits. Gastar's acreage is worth a fortune.

[wilmawatts]

Sweet, thanks

[kenm]

Wish we could say the same for my biggest holding----GST.PRA. 21.51. Right before dividend seems weird.

[dan_s]

This actually lowers the risk on the GST preferred stock by a lot. Gastar has a strong balance sheet and plenty of liquidity. Production will be up 20% to 25% this year, despite a smaller capital program. Within six months I think we will see natural gas selling for over $3.50/mcf, which will draw a lot of attention to GST. If you own this preferred for those juicy monthly dividends, this sale makes them rock solid. - Dan

HOUSTON, July 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Gastar Exploration Inc. (NYSE MKT: GST) ("Gastar") announced today that it has completed the sale of certain non-core assets in Oklahoma to an undisclosed private third-party for a total of $46.1 million of net proceeds. The sale was previously announced on May 6, 2015 and has an effective date of April 1, 2015.

J. Russell Porter, Gastar's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are pleased to close this transaction as it further strengthens our balance sheet and liquidity position to execute our capital program."

[kenm]

Anybody notice the volume on GST-PRA yesterday and today? Yesterday it traded down about 50 cents on 63,000 shares. Today, so far it has traded up almost the same amount on 56,000 shares only 3 hours into the session.
This is very unusual action for this sleepy preferred that usually trades about 4 or 5 thousand. Any insights here?

[wilmawatts]

No worry, assets are high quality stuff. Unless oil goes to $25 with Iran on deck.

Glad we have peace in our time anyway, this Iran deal should really make the middle east a much calmer place full of love and hope.

[kenm]

Thanks for your response Dan, but my questions is "where is all this selling volume coming from?". 130,000 shares in 2 days? With average daily volume of about 5,000. Just curious who is clearing out and why.

[dan_s]

Your guess is a good as mine on who the buyers and sellers are of any of these stocks. Right now there is a ton of worry about how this Iranian deal will impact the market AND there is a ton of confusion. I've seen people saying 20-40 million barrels of oil will come on the market as soon as Obama signs the deal (in 60 days). That is total BS. More Iranian oil is AT LEAST ten months away and my guess is over a year away.

This may make you feel a bit better about GST.

< Company guidance for 2015 is 11,500 t0 13,400 boepd (51% to 55% liquids)
< Production Growth (based on 5-7-2015 press release)
< 86% of gas is hedged at an average price of $3.52/mmbtu
< 66% of 2015 crude oil hedged at over $77
The realized oil price will increase with more oil from Oklahoma

[bigtex]

Now the volume getting pretty small. Just about time to add a and b, no?

[wilmawatts]

Like the positioning here, both crude vs gas, and field wise

[kenm]

Dan, one more question and I'll stop. Why in the world would GST be releasing their earnings after the market close on a Friday? That is usually not a good sign right? I would love to hear a reasonable explanation, thanks.