UPDATE: Topeka Capital Markets Upgrades Oasis Petroleum to Buy, Raises PT Following Acquisition Announcements

In a report published Friday, Topeka Capital Markets analyst Gabriele Sorbara upgraded the rating on

from Hold to Buy, and raised the price target from $44.00 to $56.00. In the report, Topeka Capital Markets noted, “We are upgrading OAS to Buy from Hold and raising our price target to $56 from $44 on this morning's bolt-on acquisitions. OAS announced that it has signed four separate acquisitions in the Williston Basin totaling 161,000 net acres for $1,515 million. With this transaction, OAS increases its acreage by nearly 50% to 492,000 net acres in the Williston Basin and current production increases by approximately 28% to 43.0 Mboe/d. The transaction augments OAS' drilling inventory by ~42% in the core. We now believe there is a compelling opportunity to build a position in this high quality Bakken operator with a long life inventory and significant RNAV upside. With the scale OAS is building with these acquisitions, we believe shares warrant a valuation more in line with its large scale peers, thus shares should get re-rated higher.” Oasis Petroleum closed on Thursday at $41.88.