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UBS’s William Featherston, who drops from second place to third, “covers a wide list of companies, allowing him to develop a broader-based view of the oil and gas sector, which is more in line with what buy-siders are looking for,” declares one investor. Featherston upgraded the group to buy in June, “with a view that we would see a recovery in oil prices,” he explains. The analyst expects oil-weighted exploration and production companies to offer more attractive value than natural-gas-weighted E&Ps, “which already seem to reflect an expected recovery in natural-gas prices next year,” he adds. Top picks are Anadarko Petroleum Corp. of Woodlands, Texas, and Houston-based Noble Energy and EOG Resources. Featherston also anticipates accelerated mergers and acquisitions in the sector — Anadarko and EOG are two possible targets — with the major oil companies and private equity firms buying up small-cap companies and assets, and the majors also seeking out large-cap companies. RUNNER(S)-UP Joseph Allman J.P. Morgan Robert Brackett Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Robert Morris Citi |
Energy – Oil & Gas Exploration & Production: Third 2012