West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude may have gone out just above $44.00 on Friday, but that was down from almost $46.50 per barrel the prior week. Investors have been trying to nibble into and find value in the oil patch. So far this has come with some small gains here and there, but it has come with a lot of pain for the long-term energy bulls. Still, many investors are wondering if oil is starting to stabilize in that $45-ish per barrel range.

24/7 Wall St. would remind readers that the market, rather than pundit predictions and emotions, will determine the price of oil ahead. That being said, there were several key very positive analyst calls in the oil and gas giants this past week. There were three key upgrades from Evercore ISI in shares of BP, Chevron and Exxon Mobil, and two other key calls were seen elsewhere.

If there is one theme that seems to be prevalent among energy investors now, it is that size matters and quality rules. Most investors seem to believe that the larger oil and gas outfits almost certainly will be able to outlast the smaller and less experienced second-tier and third-tier oil and gas outfits. As a result, 24/7 Wall St. is focused more on the large-cap and mid-cap opportunities rather than the speculative small cap stocks that may not have the fortitude to survive oil under $50 per barrel (or even $75 for that matter).

What investors need to consider here though is that these oil and gas giants are still dependent on energy price trends. They just are no longer all that profitable at current prices, they have been slow to cut on capital spending and some of the largest players could ultimately come with dividend risk.

All said and done, 24/7 Wall St. tracked five key analyst calls that stood out handily above the rest in the oil patch with Buy or Outperform ratings. These analyst calls should not in any way be considered short-term opportunistic swing trades — if oil tanks, so will they. Outside of the Big 3, calls were made in Gulfport Energy and Range Resources, and we have provided some basic information around grouped calls made this week by major firms as well.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $95 price target. Exxon Mobil was trading at $85.28 at the prior close, and shares were down 0.4% at $84.47 on Friday’s close. Exxon Mobil has a consensus analyst price target of $83.35 and a 52-week trading range of $66.55 to $97.20.

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Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) was raised to Buy from Hold at Evercore ISI with a $106 price target. Chevron had a prior closing price of $94.96, and it closed at $94.03 on Friday. Chevron’s consensus analyst price target is $96.43 and its 52-week range is $69.58 to $119.67.

Gulfport Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: GPOR) was reinstated as Buy with $38 price target by Jefferies on Tuesday. This was versus a $30.33 close ahead of the news, and versus the same closing price on Friday. The firm said that Gulfport offers differentiated growth and balance sheet strength among gas exploration and production players, but it specifically warned that it will not be without speed bumps. Gulfport has a $3.3 billion market cap and a 52-week range of $28.58 to $56.72.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $43 price target at Evercore ISI. This was against a prior close of $36.28, and it closed at $35.13 on Friday. BP’s consensus price target is roughly $37.50, and its 52-week range is $29.35 to $43.85.

Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC) may have slid on Friday by almost 3% to $34.41, but it had a great week. Citigroup raised Range Resources to Buy, and RBC Capital Markets maintained its Sector Perform rating but raised its target to $47. Shares were closer to $31 before news of $876 million in assets being sold, which it will use to pay down debt. Shares were up 9.5% at $33.95 after the news break, and it still closed higher on the week despite the drop on Friday. Range Resources has a 52-week range of $27.55 to $74.64.

Other key oil and gas shakers this week were seen elsewhere. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey has three Permian Basin energy stocks that should end up as huge winners when the dust settles. UBS also issued four top oil giants that will survive and thrive after the dust settles. Credit Suisse also has four top refining stocks it is positive on now, as well as four natural gas stocks to buy for this winter.

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If you want to review last weekend’s key energy picks, they included some alternative energy picks as well. They were in Exxon Mobil, Phillips 66, Suncor, Weatherford and First Solar.

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