Energy Prospectus

Analyst Actions: Whiting Petroleum Initiated with Buy at Brean, PT Set at $96; Shares Unchanged in Pre Market
MIDNIGHT TRADER 6:25 AM ET 5/16/2014

07:25 AM EDT, 05/16/2014 (MT Newswires) -- Analysts at Brean Capital have initiated coverage of Whiting Petroleum Corp.(WLL) with a buy rating and a price target of $96 a share.

The price target represents a potential upside of 33% from the stock's current trading price.

Shares of WLL are steady in the pre-market hours at $71.99, amid a 52-week trading range of $44.21 - $75.90.

Price: 71.99 , Change: 0, Percent Change: 0

Billionaire hedge-fund investor John Paulson said Whiting Petroleum Corp. (WLL) shares may rise if the oil and natural gas company sells non-core assets.

“We anticipate Whiting will continue to rationalize its corporate structure with additional divestitures,” Paulson & Co. wrote in a first-quarter letter, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News.

Last year, Whiting sold the Postle field for $810 million and acreage in Texas for $152 million, Paulson wrote. A streamlined Whiting “should command a higher multiple and result in a higher stock price,” the firm said. Whiting shares have risen 15 percent this year to $71.40.

My Fair Value Estimate for WLL is $120/share. - Dan