UPDATE: RBC Capital Markets Upgrades Nabors Industries

In a report published Wednesday, RBC Capital Markets analyst Kurt Hallead upgraded

to Outperform from Sector Perform, raising its price target from $19.00 to $20.00. According to the report, for 2014, it is believed that NBR will benefit from the strong Tier 1 rig market as well as a ramp in Int'l drilling in 2H14. “In 2013, Tier 1 rig utilization has increased to ~94% from ~85% at the beginning of the year,” the report noted. “The industry is currently in the process of shifting toward more of these rigs, which command higher day rates than older Tier 2 and 3 rigs and are preferable for complex, efficient, horizontal drilling in US shale plays.” Some highlights from the report included: -”Increasing '14/'15 EPS estimates to $1.16/$1.66.” -”We expect NBR to add +30 newbuild Tier 1 rigs to its fleet over the next two years and maintain their ~20% share of industry Tier 1 rigs.” -”We forecast that ~33% of NBR's EBITDA will be derived from Tier 1 rigs in 2015, compared to 17% in 2011.” NBR closed Tuesday at $16.74.