Capital One Financial downgraded shares of Whiting Petroleum (NYSE:WLL) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, January 10th, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has $12.00 price objective on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $13.00.
Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Credit Suisse Group lowered shares of Whiting Petroleum from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. S&P Equity Research lowered their price target on shares of Whiting Petroleum from $6.60 to $6.14 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Whiting Petroleum from $9.00 to $7.75 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Whiting Petroleum from a peer perform rating to an underperform rating and set a $8.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Seaport Global Securities lowered shares of Whiting Petroleum from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Whiting Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $13.09.
Shares of NYSE:WLL traded down $0.04 on Friday, reaching $4.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,423,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,035,228. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $6.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.85. Whiting Petroleum has a 52-week low of $4.25 and a 52-week high of $30.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $414.50 million, a P/E ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 3.28.
Whiting Petroleum (NYSE:WLL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas exploration company reported ($0.38) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $372.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $405.25 million. Whiting Petroleum had a negative return on equity of 1.90% and a net margin of 6.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 34.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Whiting Petroleum will post -1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Whiting Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Whiting Petroleum by 58.4% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 9,681 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 3,570 shares during the period. Glen Harbor Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Whiting Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth $235,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in Whiting Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $107,000. Finally, Rational Advisors LLC increased its stake in Whiting Petroleum by 782.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rational Advisors LLC now owns 14,939 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 13,246 shares during the period. 99.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Whiting Petroleum
Whiting Petroleum Corporation engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas primarily in the Rocky Mountains region of the United States. The company sells its oil and gas production to end users, marketers, and other purchasers.
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