Pioneer Natural Resources ( NYSE: PXD ) +2.8% in Friday's trading as Wells Fargo upgraded shares to Equal Weight from Underweight with a $220 price target, saying the stock has lagged peers in recent weeks because of a shift in investor focus away from capital returns to inventory depth and quality and a less efficient than expected 2023 capital program.
Wells Fargo's Roger Read said he expects well performance risks will abate during 2023 given Pioneer Natural's ( PXD ) large and contiguous core Midland Basin acreage, and sees sentiment improving "after the bar has been lowered."
At the same time, Read downgraded Chesapeake Energy ( CHK ) to Equal Weight from Overweight with an $87 PT, cut from $117, following two recent oil asset sales ( I , II ); shares nevertheless +2.2% .
As Chesapeake ( CHK ) becomes a clean-cut gas company, Read said he is extending the discount to NAV to 40% from 20%.
It is "worthwhile" to buy Pioneer Natural ( PXD ) shares and collect a very strong dividend in the coming year, Michael Wiggins de Oliveira writes in an analysis posted recently on Seeking Alpha .
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Pioneer Natural upgraded, Chesapeake Energy downgraded at Wells Fargo