Anadarko Petroleum’s Price Target Boosted at FBR Capital (APC)

in Gold Gold Investment by admin — March 4, 2010 7:16 am | no comments

Independent oil and gas company Anadarko Petroleum Corporation ( APC ) saw its price target raised on Thursday by analysts at FBR Capital Markets. The analyst lifted its price target for APC shares, which had closed at $70.17 on Wednesday, to $90 from $75. FBR Capital also reiterated its “Outperform” rating on the stock, citing expectations for high success rates in the company’s drilling operations. The firm noted that “Conversations with Anadarko’s (APC) technical team at its analyst day have deepened our appreciation of the value of its exploration platform. We believe APC’s high-imact domestic deepwater and international exploration prospect inventory is driven by a paradigm shift in thinking about exploration akin to the paradigm shift U.S independent E&Ps went through over the last five years, relating to figuring out prospectivity of U.S. natural gas shales. By the end of 2012, APC will have drilled and tested about half of its 3.5 billion Boe net risked exploratory portfolio. We think the success rate will be high; we would encourage investors to think about giving appropriate value to this portfolio…Importantly, we establish a three-year price target of $140.00/share. Our 12-month and three-year price targets are based on, approximately, 50% and 80% of our assessment 3P NAV of $175.00/share by 2012, respectively.” Anadarko shares rose 30 cents, or +0.4%, in premarket trading Thursday. The Bottom Line We had removed shares of APC from our recommended list back on Sept.30, when the stock was trading at $63.20. The company has a .51% dividend yield, based on last night’s closing stock price of $70.17. The stock has technical support in the $63-$65 price area. If the shares can firm up, we see overhead resistance around the $74-$76 price levels. We would remain on the sidelines for now. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation ( APC ) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars. Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks , as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here .