Energy Prospectus

OKLAHOMA CITY, March 09, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulfport Energy Corporation (GPOR) (“Gulfport”) today announced the commencement of an underwritten public offering of 14,000,000 shares of its common stock, subject to market and other conditions. The underwriters will have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,100,000 shares from Gulfport. Gulfport intends to use the net proceeds from this offering primarily to fund a portion of its 2017 capital development plan and for general corporate purposes.

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Scotia Capital (USA) Inc. are acting as joint book-running managers in the offering.

The investment bankers must really be pushing these stock offerings because a lot of companies are doing this now. Stock price dips after these are announced are usually short lived. The proceeds will strengthen the balance sheet and reduce interest expense. These are also often done so the company has enough liquidity to participate in M&A activity. We are now at the point in the cycle where M&A really picks up.

From Stifel 3-11: They rate GPOR a BUY with a price target of $32

GPOR Prices Upsized Equity Offering
Pro forma the offering, we believe GPOR is well positioned to navigate the currently weak natural gas strip. Should oil and
natural gas prices remain at $1.75/MMBtu and $35/bl through 2017, we project GPOR's debt/TTM EBITDA would remain
below 1.6x and 2.0x in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Common Stock Offering
After the close on 3/9, GPOR launched and priced an upsized common offering of
14.7 million shares (not including a 30-day over allotment option of 2.205 million
shares) at $25.25/share, a 4.6% discount to the last trade prior to filing the offering.
Net offering expenses, GPOR expects to receive $358 million, which management
expects to use the proceeds to fund a portion of 2017 capital expenditures and for
general corporate purposes.

Strong Balance Sheet Reinforced By Cash Infusion
Incorporating the proceeds from the offering, we project net debt/TTM EBITDA of
1.6x and 1.3.x at YE16 and YE17, respectively, down from 2.3x at YE15. Should
commodity prices remain at depressed and constant prices of $1.75/MMBtu and
$35/Bbl, we forecast GPOR's net debt/TTM EBITDA would remain below 1.6x and
2.0x in 2016 and 2017, respectively. ( Exhibits 1, 2). The company has 76% and
56% of its estimated 2016 and 2017 production hedged at average prices of
$3.29/MMBtu and $3.11/MMBtu.

Updating Estimates
Pro forma the issuance, we are decreasing our FY16/FY17 CFPS estimates
10%/11% to $2.70/$3.71, respectively. In addition, we are adjusting our risked
NAV -6% to $39/share (Exhibit 3).

Reiterate Buy
We reiterate our Buy rating as we believe GPOR is well positioned to navigate
near-term commodity headwinds due to its stellar balance sheet and top-tier
assets.