Crude’s 7% Surge Reignited the Oil Stock Rally This Week

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Image Source: Marathon Oil.

The price of crude seemed to run out of gas after touching $40 a barrel a couple of weeks ago, with it slumping shortly after topping that mark. That said, after a short breather it made another run at $40 a barrel this week, rising 7% and closing at just over $39 per barrel. That rally was enough to

restart the rebound in oil stocks sending many up double digits. According to S&P Capital IQ data, among the best-performing energy stocks during this week were Whiting

Petroleum (NYSE: WLL), Rice Energy (NYSE: RICE), Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO), Memorial Resource

Development (NASDAQ: MRD), and Synergy Resources (NYSEMKT: SYRG).

What:Synergy Resources (NYSEMKT: SYRG) rallied more than 10% this week.

So What: Key driver: The rebound in

oil and an analyst buy rating Like most oil stocks, Synergy

Resources benefited from the crude oil rally this week

However, the company also received some analyst coverage this week, which added more fuel to its rally

Now What: Analysts at Citi initiated

coverage on Synergy Resources, awarding it a buy rating

Citi also set a $10 price target, which implies plenty of upside even after this week’s rally

Key takeaway: Higher oil prices and an analyst buy rating were all the fuel bulls needed to send this oil stock higher

What:Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) jumped 10.4% this week.

So What: Key driver: The rally in crude

oil Oil was the only fuel behind

Marathon Oil’s rally this week That said, the company is

coming off of two positive analyst notes in the prior week, which investors are buying into now that oil is higher

Now What: Last Tuesday, Deutsche Bank

named Marathon one of four oil stocks that it said had “attractive remaining upside” and the most levered way to play a crude oil rebound

The following day Seaport Global upgraded it and six peers to buy

Key takeaway: These analysts had impeccable timing

What:

Rice Energy (NYSE: RICE) rallied 11.3% this week.

So What: Key driver: The crude oil

rally Rice Energy is in a very

similar boat as Marathon Oil

It rallied this week despite no news, however, it too was upgraded last week to buy at Seaport Global

Now What: Seaport saw Rice Energy

as one of the select names that should do really well if oil moves back toward $50 a barrel

Key takeaway: With oil moving higher, investors are buying into this bullish view on Rice Energy

What:Memorial Resource Development (NASDAQ: MRD) jumped 12.4% this week.

So What: Key driver: Same story, but

with a twist Like the rest of these oil

stocks, Memorial Resource Development rallied along with crude oil this week

However, it didn’t benefit from the carryover of a bullish analyst call from last week

Now What: Instead, it was one of the 11

names that Seaport Global had downgraded to sell because it didn’t have the pure upside potential as Rice, Marathon, or the others on its buy list

Key takeaway: It just goes to show that sometimes the rising tide of higher oil prices simply lifts all boats

What:Whiting Petroleum (NYSE: WLL) surged over 19% this week.

So What: Key driver: Oil prices and

an analyst note Whiting Petroleum was

also in last week’s sell block by Seaport Global

That said, analysts at Goldman Sachs seemed to disagree with that call

Now What: It listed Whiting Petroleum as

one of its nine favorite “goldilocks” names should oil stick at $35 this year

That said, Whiting was on the “next rung down” on its favorites list

Key takeaway: Analysts don’t always agree, especially when the outlook for oil prices is part of the equation

This could be the next billion-dollar iSecret