Credit Suisse Names 8 Stocks To Buy In A Battered Energy Sector

With the S&P 500 climbing to new all-time highs in 2015, it’s no secret that the collapse in oil prices has left much of the Energy Sector missing out on the party. While the market waits and watches for signs of life from energy stocks, eight Credit Suisse analysts each recently picked their top energy stocks to buy in eight different subsectors.

Here’s a full list of the names they chose.

1. Alternative Energy: SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ: SCTY)
Analyst Patrick Jobin sees the company as a “key beneficiary” in the trends toward residential solar and lower capital costs via use of financial vehicles.

2. Independent Refining: Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE: MPC)
Analyst Ed Westlake calls the company’s acquisition of Hess Corp (NYSE: HES)’s retail business “well timed” and is confident that it can achieve its synergy targets.

3. Integrated Oil & Gas: Marathon Oil Corp (NYSE: MRO)
Westlake believes that Marathon’s upstream cash margins “have room to rise as shale production rises and the oil price recovers.”

4. MLPs: Genesis Energy LP (NYSE: GEL)
Analyst John Edwards believes that the MLP is defensive in terms of its direct exposure to commodity price weakness and offensive in terms of the distribution growth expected following its recent acquisition of offshore assets from Enterprise Product Partners LP (NYSE: EPD).

5. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production: Devon Energy Corp (NYSE: DVN)
Analysts Ed Westlake and Mark Lear caution that Devon will not be able to repeat 30 percent growth, but it currently has “a strong hedge position and strong oil growth” relative to peers.

6. Oil Services & Equipment: Schlumberger Ltd (NYSE: SLB)
Analyst James Wicklund praises the company’s “ability to optimize margins and cash flow even in a down market, making the metrics on the eventual recovery significantly more attractive.”

7. Oilfield Services & Marine Transport: Euronav NV (NYSE: EURN)
Analyst Greg Lewis believes the company has “ample flexibility for fleet acquisitions” and is free to return 80 percent of net income to shareholders via dividends.

8. SMID Cap Oil & Gas Exploration & Production: PDC Energy Inc (NASDAQ: PDCE)
Lear is impressed by the company’s three-year projection of up to 40 percent production growth from Wattenberg even if oil prices remain as low as $50/bbl.

Disclosure: the author owns shares of Schlumberger.