Posted on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2018 by MarketBeat StaffThere are more than 450 energy companies traded on public markets. Given the sheer number of pipeline companies, power plant operators, oil and gas production companies and other energy stocks, it can be hard to identify which energy companies are going to outperform the market.
Fortunately, Wall Street's brightest minds have already done this for us. Every year, analyst issue approximately 8,000 distinct recommendations for energy companies. Analysts don't always get their "buy" ratings right, but it's worth taking a hard look when several analysts from different brokerages and research firm are giving "strong buy" and "buy" ratings to the same energy stock.
This slide show lists the 15 energy companies that have the highest average analyst recommendations from Wall Street's equities research analysts over the last 12 months.
#1 - Viper Energy Partners (NASDAQ:VNOM)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 13 Buy Ratings, 1 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $37.2143 (2.0% Upside)
Viper Energy Partners LP owns, acquires, and exploits oil and natural gas properties in North America. The company holds mineral interests covering an area of approximately 43,843 net acres in the Permian Basin, West Texas. As of December 31, 2017, its estimated proved oil and natural gas reserves consisted of 38,246 thousand barrels of crude oil equivalent. Viper Energy Partners GP LLC operates as the general partner of the company. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Midland, Texas. Viper Energy Partners LP is a subsidiary of Diamondback Energy, Inc.
#2 - Enerflex (TSE:EFX)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 6 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: C$21.50 (26.5% Upside)
Enerflex Ltd. supplies natural gas compression, oil and gas processing, refrigeration systems, and electric power equipment in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company offers engineered systems, including engineering, design, fabrication, and assembly of standard and custom-designed compression, electric power, and processing solutions. Its compression solutions include engineering, designing, fabrication, and installation of natural gas compression packages, such as gasfuelled engines or electric motors, reciprocating or screw compressors, cooling fans, piping, and instrumentation and controls for applications in gas gathering compression, inlet, and residue compression in processing facilities, compression for gas storage, and pipeline compression. It also re-engineers and refurbishes existing compression equipment; and engineers, designs, fabricates, constructs custom builds, commissions, and operates oil and gas processing equipment, including plant compression, general processing, dew point control, dehydration and liquids separation, and amine sweetening, as well as provides engineering, design, installation, site construction, project management, and commissioning services. In addition, the company packages electric power solutions for use in the generation of prime, standby, or peak shaving power, and combined heat and power; and offers after-market, parts distribution, operation and maintenance, equipment optimization and maintenance, manufacturer warranty, exchange component, and technical services. Further, it distributes electric ignition and control systems; rents and leases a fleet of natural gas compressors totalling approximately 500,000 horsepower; and provides in-house engineering and mechanical services, and retrofit and integrated solutions. The company's customers include small independent, large, and midstream and third-party processing provider. Enerflex Ltd. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
#3 - Charah Solutions (NYSE:CHRA)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 4 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $13.1667 (72.8% Upside)
Charah Solutions, Inc. provides environmental and maintenance services to the power generation industry. It is involved in the development, construction, and management of landfills for coal-fired power generation facilities, and new and existing ash ponds; and active pond management activities, including clean closure, cap-in-place, and design and construction of new ponds. The company also provides fossil services, such as coal ash management, silo management, on-site ash transportation, landfill management, and capture and disposal of ash byproduct; and manages combustion byproducts comprising bottom ash, flue gas desulfurization gypsum, Pozatec/fixated scrubber sludge, and fluidized bed combustion fly ash. In addition, it markets class C fly ash, class F fly ash, bottom ash and PriceLite, CFB ash, synthetic gypsum, pulverized limestone, and other products; and provides nuclear services consisting of routine maintenance, outage services, facility maintenance, and staffing solutions for nuclear power generation facilities. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.
#4 - Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.9
Ratings Breakdown: 26 Buy Ratings, 2 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $156.4444 (25.6% Upside)
Diamondback Energy, Inc., an independent oil and natural gas company, focuses on the acquisition, development, exploration, and exploitation of onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas. Its activities are primarily focused on the Wolfcamp, Spraberry, Clearfork, Bone Spring, and Cline formations. As of December 31, 2017, the company's net acreage position was approximately 206,660 acres in the Permian Basin; and estimated proved oil and natural gas reserves were 335,352 thousand barrels of crude oil equivalent. It also held working interests in 1,166 gross producing wells, as well as royalty interests in 64 additional wells. In addition, the company, through its subsidiary, Viper Energy Partners LP, owns mineral interests in approximately 247,602 gross acres primarily in Midland County, Texas. Diamondback Energy, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.
#5 - Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.9
Ratings Breakdown: 15 Buy Ratings, 2 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $92.2667 (24.5% Upside)
Marathon Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in refining, marketing, retailing, and transporting petroleum products primarily in the United States. It operates through three segments: Refining & Marketing, Speedway, and Midstream. It refines crude oil and other feed stocks at its six refineries in the Gulf Coast and Midwest regions of the United States; and purchases refined products and ethanol for resale. Its refined products include gasoline, distillates, propane, feed stocks and special products, heavy fuel oil, and asphalt. It also sells transportation fuels and convenience products in the retail market through Speedway convenience stores; gathers, processes, and transports natural gas; gathers, transports, fractionates, stores, and markets natural gas liquids (NGLs); and transports and stores crude oil and refined products. It markets its refined products to resellers, consumers, independent retailers, wholesale customers, its Marathon brand jobbers and Speedway brand convenience stores, airlines, transportation companies, and utilities. It also exports its refined products. As of December 31, 2017, it owned and operated 18 asphalt terminals and 61 light products terminals; 2,744 convenience stores in 21 states; 289 transport trucks and 296 trailers; 1,999 leased and 19 owned railcars; and owned/leased and operated 1,613 miles of common carrier crude oil and 2,360 miles of common carrier products pipelines, as well as had 5,617 retail outlets in 20 states and the District of Columbia, and interests in 2,194 miles of crude oil and 1,917 miles of products pipelines. It also owns and operates 228 miles of private products pipelines; has ownership interests in 739 miles of common carrier crude oil pipeline and 1,741 miles of products pipelines; and distributes refined products through approximately 130 light products and 2 asphalt third-party terminals. The company was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Findlay, Ohio.
#6 - Cactus (NYSE:WHD)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 11 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $38.1111 (4.8% Upside)
Cactus, Inc. designs, manufactures, sells, and rents a range of wellheads and pressure control equipment. The company's principal products include Cactus SafeDrill wellhead systems, frac stacks, zipper manifolds, and production trees. It also provides field services, such as 24-hour service crews to assist with the installation, maintenance, and safe handling of the wellhead and pressure control equipment, as well as repair services for equipment that it sells or rents. The company sells or rents its products for onshore unconventional oil and gas wells that are utilized during the drilling, completion, and production phases of its customers' wells. It operates 14 service centers in the United States, as well as a service center in Eastern Australia. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
#7 - PermRock Royalty Trust (NYSE:PRT)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 4 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $18.00 (51.6% Upside)
PermRock Royalty Trust owns 80% net profits interest in the oil and natural gas production properties acquired by Boaz Energy II, LLC in the Permian Basin, Texas. The company was founded in 2017 and is based in Fort Worth, Texas.
#8 - WPX Energy (NYSE:WPX)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 25 Buy Ratings, 1 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $22.96 (27.8% Upside)
WPX Energy, Inc., an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company, engages in the exploitation and development of unconventional properties in the United States. The company's principal areas of operation include the Delaware Basin in Texas and New Mexico; the Williston Basin in North Dakota; and the San Juan Basin in New Mexico and Colorado. As of December 31, 2017, it had proved reserves of 436 million barrels of oil equivalent. The company was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
#9 - Ameresco (NYSE:AMRC)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.7
Ratings Breakdown: 2 Buy Ratings, 1 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $13.50 (6.1% Upside)
Ameresco, Inc. provides comprehensive energy services for businesses and organizations in North America and Europe. It offers energy efficiency, infrastructure upgrades, energy security and resilience, asset sustainability, and renewable energy solutions. The company operates through U.S. Regions, U.S. Federal, Canada, and Non-Solar Distributed Generation segments. It designs, develops, engineers, and installs projects that reduce the energy, as well as operations and maintenance costs of customers' facilities. The company's projects primarily include various measures customized for the facility and designed to enhance the efficiency of building systems, such as heating, ventilation, cooling, and lighting systems. It also offers renewable energy products and services, such as the construction of small-scale plants for customers that produce electricity, gas, heat, or cooling from renewable sources of energy; and sells electricity and processed renewable gas fuel, heat, or cooling. In addition, the company provides enterprise energy management and consulting services; and sells solar photovoltaic (PV) energy products and systems. It serves federal, state, and local governments, as well as healthcare and educational institutions, housing authorities, and commercial and industrial customers. As of December 31, 2017, the company owned and operated 73 small-scale renewable energy plants and solar PV installations. Ameresco, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts.
#10 - Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 18 Buy Ratings, 1 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $32.6471 (15.6% Upside)
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. provides midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, petrochemicals, and refined products. The company operates through four segments: NGL Pipelines & Services, Crude Oil Pipelines & Services, Natural Gas Pipelines & Services, and Petrochemical & Refined Products Services. The NGL Pipelines & Services segment offers natural gas processing and related NGL marketing services, as well as NGL export docks and related services. It operates approximately 19,600 miles of NGL pipelines; NGL and related product storage facilities; 14 NGL fractionators; and a liquefied petroleum gas and ethane export terminals, and related operations. The Crude Oil Pipelines & Services segment operates approximately 5,800 miles of crude oil pipelines; and crude oil storage and marine terminals located in Oklahoma and Texas, as well as a fleet of 495 tractor-trailer tank trucks used to transport crude oil. It also engages in crude oil marketing activities. The Natural Gas Pipelines & Services segment operates approximately 19,700 miles of natural gas pipeline systems to gather and transport natural gas in Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas, and Wyoming. It leases underground salt dome natural gas storage facilities in Texas and Louisiana; owns an underground salt dome storage cavern in Texas; and markets natural gas. The Petrochemical & Refined Products Services segment operates propylene fractionation and related activities, including 800 miles of pipelines; butane isomerization complex, associated deisobutanizer units, and related pipeline assets; and octane enhancement and high purity isobutylene production facilities. It also operates approximately 4,100 miles of refined products pipelines; and terminals, as well as provides refined products marketing and marine transportation services. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
#11 - Mammoth Energy Services (NASDAQ:TUSK)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.7
Ratings Breakdown: 7 Buy Ratings, 3 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $38.50 (43.8% Upside)
Mammoth Energy Services, Inc. operates as an integrated oilfield service company. The company operates in four segments: Pressure Pumping Services, Infrastructure Services, Natural Sand Proppant Services, and Contract Land and Directional Drilling Services. The Pressure Pumping Services segment provides high-pressure hydraulic fracturing services to enhance the production of oil and natural gas from formations having low permeability. The Infrastructure Services segment offers a range of services on electric transmission and distribution networks, and substation facilities, which include the construction, upgrade, maintenance, and repair of high voltage transmission lines, substations, and lower voltage overhead and underground distribution systems; storm repair and restoration services; and commercial services comprising installation, maintenance, and repair of commercial wiring. The Natural Sand Proppant Services segment is involved in mining, processing, and selling proppant for hydraulic fracturing; buying processed sand from suppliers on the spot market and reselling that sand; and providing logistics solutions to facilitate delivery of frac sand products. The Contract Land and Directional Drilling Services segment offers drilling rigs and crews for operators, as well as rental equipment, such as mud motors and operational tools for vertical and horizontal drilling. The company also other energy services, including coil tubing, pressure control, flowback, cementing, and remote accommodation services. Mammoth Energy Services, Inc. serves companies engaged in the exploration and development of North American onshore unconventional oil and natural gas reserves, government-funded utilities, private and public investor owned utilities, and co-operative utilities. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
#12 - SunCoke Energy (NYSE:SXC)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 3.0
Ratings Breakdown: 3 Buy Ratings, 0 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $13.50 (24.2% Upside)
SunCoke Energy, Inc. operates as an independent producer of coke in the Americas. The company operates through three segments: Domestic Coke, Brazil Coke, and Logistics. It offers metallurgical and thermal coal. The company also provides handling and/or mixing services to steel, coke, electric utility, coal producing, and other manufacturing based customers. SunCoke Energy, Inc. was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Lisle, Illinois.
#13 - Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.9
Ratings Breakdown: 27 Buy Ratings, 3 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $236.24 (44.9% Upside)
Pioneer Natural Resources Company operates as an independent oil and gas exploration and production company in the United States. The company explores for, develops, and produces oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and gas. It has operations primarily in the Permian Basin in West Texas, the Eagle Ford Shale play in South Texas, the Raton field in southeast Colorado, and the West Panhandle field in the Texas Panhandle. As of December 31, 2017, the company had proved undeveloped reserves and proved developed reserves of approximately 45 million barrels of oil, 22 million barrels of NGLs, and 291 billion cubic feet of gas; and owned interests in 10 gas processing plants and 4 treating facilities. Pioneer Natural Resources Company is headquartered in Irving, Texas.
#14 - Noble Energy (NYSE:NBL)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.6
Ratings Breakdown: 19 Buy Ratings, 9 Hold Ratings, 1 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $41.8796 (44.4% Upside)
Noble Energy, Inc., an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids worldwide. It owns, operates, develops, and acquires domestic midstream infrastructure assets in the DJ and Delaware Basins. It principal projects are primarily located in the US unconventional basins and various global offshore conventional basins. As of December 31, 2017, the company had approximately 1,965 million barrels oil equivalent of total proved reserves. Noble Energy, Inc. was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
#15 - ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)
Consensus Rating: Buy
Rating Score: 2.6
Ratings Breakdown: 13 Buy Ratings, 8 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
Consensus Price Target: $73.7895 (2.4% Upside)
ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids worldwide. Its portfolio includes North American tight oil and oil sands assets in Canada; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; various LNG developments; and an inventory of conventional and unconventional exploration prospects. The company was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
