Continental Resources Sees Rating Upped At SunTrust To Buy, Price Target Raised To $60

Neal Dingmann of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey turned bullish on shares of Continental Resources, Inc. CLR and increased his rating to Buy from Neutral with a price target boosted to $60 from a previous $46.

According to Dingmann, Continental Resources is "quickly" transforming itself to a more efficient company focusing on high ROR assets in STACK, getting more out of SCOOP with enhanced completions while it stands in a position to ramp production at its Bakken site next year.

Specifically, Dingmann stated that the company operates 11 rigs in STACK which is approximately three times more than its closet peer. The company is also generating strong well results in the Blaine and Kingfisher Counties while also controlling four rigs in SCOOP.

With that said, Dingmann "materially" boosted his 2017 production forecast. The analyst expects the majority of growth to come from the company's STACK play that could finish 2017 at a production rate of over 60,000 Boepd (barrels of oil equivalent per day), marking an improvement over approximately 11,000 Boepd in the first quarter.

Finally, Dingmann suggested that Continental Resources should soon have the results from its first STACK density pilot project at its Ludwig unit that could "also add to the upside down the road."