Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLR) shares were up 1.19% on Tuesday when approximately 2.03M shares were traded, against the average daily trading volume of 2.12M. Analysts at Credit Agricole recently upgraded the stock to Underperform from Buy. Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLR) has a consensus Strong buy rating, according to Zacks Investment Research. No analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, 9 have assigned a hold rating, 1 says it’s a buy, and 11 have assigned a strong buy rating to the company.
Analysts have a consensus target price of $61.03 in the 12-month period. The price objective is 25.68% higher than the recent closing price of $48.56. The 52-week price range is $16.88-$60.30 and the company has a market capitalization of $18.19 billion.
Continental Resources, Inc. (CLR) on January 26, 2017 announced a 2017 capital expenditures budget of $1.95 billion, which is expected to accelerate production growth in second half 2017 to an exit rate of 250,000 to 260,000 barrels of oil equivalent (Boe) per day. Crude oil is projected to account for approximately 59% of total production by year end, compared with approximately 55% in the fourth quarter 2016.
Fourth quarter 2016 production averaged approximately 210,000 Boe per day, reflecting persistent severe weather in North Dakota since late November 2016. The Company expects production to range between 210,000 and 215,000 Boe per day through first half 2017, after which production is expected to significantly accelerate due to the timing of pad completions in the Bakken and six new multi-well density projects in the over-pressured oil window of Oklahoma’s STACK play.
Full-year 2017 production is expected to average approximately 220,000 to 230,000 Boe per day, compared with approximately 217,000 Boe per day for 2016.
Of the total $1.95 billion budget, the Company is allocating $1.72 billion to drilling and completion activities, with the remainder planned to be invested in other opportunities including leasehold and facilities.
More than 80% of the drilling and completion budget is focused on completing the Company’s deep inventory of uncompleted wells in North Dakota, additional drilling in the Bakken, and further STACK development, which will drive the 2017 increase in crude oil volumes as a percent of total production. Crude oil production is expected to grow to approximately 150,000 barrels of oil (Bo) per day by year-end 2017, a 29% increase compared with approximately 116,500 Bo per day for fourth quarter 2016. Natural gas production is expected to increase to approximately 630 million cubic feet (MMcf) per day at year-end 2017, an approximate 12% increase over fourth quarter 2016.
The capital budget is projected to be cash neutral for full-year 2017 at an average $55 per barrel NYMEX WTI and $3.14 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) of natural gas Henry Hub. Continental noted that, at a full-year average $60 per barrel WTI price, the Company would expect to generate approximately $200 million in additional cash.
