Are Parsley Energy Shares Worth Buying Now?

By Jon C. Ogg Published Oct 12, 11:15AM EDT

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Parsley Energy Inc. (NYSE: PE) may not be as well known as other energy stocks. Still, the $2.7 billion independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company has properties in the lucrative Permian Basin in West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico. A new report from Oppenheimer reminds investors that the firm thinks it is worth buying.

Oppenheimer’s Robert Du Boff has maintained an Outperform rating and a $23.00 price target on Parsley Energy. When you consider a $17.78 closing price and a consensus analyst price target that is closer to $20.00, this is above average upside in the call.

With Oppenheimer’s rating as Outperform, this is effectively the same call as a Buy rating at other firms. Oppenheimer is calling for a loss of $0.13 per share in 2015, but Du Boff sees the outfit making $0.03 earnings per share in 2016 on slightly raised earnings estimates, following a meeting with Parsley’s CEO Bryan Sheffield and CFO Ryan Dalton.

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Du Boff said:

While the company has not formalized 2016 guidance, we came away confident the company will continue to generate over 30% production growth over the next few years despite the difficult oil price environment, above current consensus. Moreover, with peer-leading cash flow growth underpinned by a sizable hedge book, we expect the cash outspend to narrow and leverage ratios to improve even with the increase in activity. We also expect more detail on the Southern Delaware Basin prospect, which could generate additional value for the name.

For whatever it is worth, Parsley recently tapped the capital markets with a capital raise. In mid-September it priced 13 million class A shares for gross proceeds of about $195 million. The funds raised were to repay borrowings under a revolving credit facility and to fund a portion of its capital program. At the time, Parsley said this may include acquisitions.

Since the underwritten offering was made, Evercore ISI started coverage with a Buy rating and a $20 target (October 2) and Iberia Capital started coverage as Outperform with a $21 target (October 9).

Parsley had many underwriters involved in that $195 million offering, with the book-running managers listed as Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo Securities. Co-managers listed in the prospectus from September were BMO Capital Markets, Raymond James, RBC Capital Markets, Tudor Pickering Holt, Heikkinen Energy Advisors, Johnson Rice, Scotia Howard Weil, Seaport Global Securities, Simmons and Stephens.

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Mixed markets and a solid recovery were just not acting as real drivers with this analyst call on Monday. Shares were seen down 1.3% at $17.84 in late morning trading. Parsley has a consensus analyst price target of $20.58 and a 52-week range of $11.11 to $19.02.

About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.