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Chicago, IL – March 5, 2021 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured on the Analysts Blog. Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research discuss the latest news and events that affect stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured on the blog include: PXD (Pioneer Natural Resources Company), MTDR (Matador Resources Company), EOG Resources, Inc. (EOG Resources, Inc.), and Diamondback Energy, Inc. (FANG).

Here are the highlights from Thursday’s analyst blog:

Tap the Crude Rally with these 4 Permian Explorers

US President Joe Biden said America expects to vaccinate all adults by the end of May. This has raised hopes that the country will soon return to normal and support fuel demand as people travel more and take office. So it’s safe to say that the momentum of the crude oil rally will continue, improving the prospects for explorers and producers.

Oil trading at Pre-Pandemic Mark

The price of West Texas Intermediate-branded crude oil, trading above $ 61 a barrel (almost at pre-pandemic levels), has improved significantly from negative territory hit in April 2020. The momentum is set to continue as the coronavirus vaccine rollout may help the economy recover strongly this year, helping fuel demand.

According to reports, OPEC + (OPEC and its non-OPEC partners) will not consider increasing production at today’s meeting if it decides on production guidelines beyond March. Rather, the cartel and its Russia-led non-OPEC allies are expected to cut production from March to April. The news also supports the rally in crude oil prices.

Explorers returning to Shale Plays

With the rapidly improving crude oil enhancement price scenario, explorers and producers are gradually returning to oil resources and adding drilling rigs to the productive shale games.

In its weekly release, the Baker Hughes Company (BKR) reported that Permian – the most productive basin in the United States – posted an oil rig up from 207 for the week ending February 26, down from 203 the previous week. In particular, seven oil rigs have been added in the Permian Basin in the past 10 weeks.

The story goes on

It is therefore highly anticipated that the productive shale games in the United States will continue to add oil rigs as crude oil prices rebounded to prepandemic levels.

To buy stocks

Given that Permian has a huge inventory of low-cost premium wells and the business case is favorable, it seems an opportune time for energy investors to consider the inventories of explorers operating in the basin. Here we present two Zacks Rank # 1 (Strong Buy) stocks that are well positioned to win. There are two other stocks with a Zacks rank 2 (Buy). You can see The full list of today’s Zacks # 1 Rank stocks can be found here.

Natural resource pioneerHeadquartered in Irving, TX, the company recently announced the approval of its Board of Directors to increase its quarterly cash dividend distribution. Importantly, the company ranked second in Zacks had free cash flow of $ 689 million in 2020. The metric is likely to improve as the business case gradually improves as oil prices rise.

In particular, Pioneer is forecasting free cash flow of $ 2 billion in 2021. As such, the upstream energy company with a strong Permian presence is likely to continue to reward investors with dividend payments.

Headquarters in Dallas, TX, Matador resources has a strong footprint in fluid games from Wolfcamp and Bone Spring in the Delaware Basin. Zacks Rank # 1 stock is expected to see earnings growth of 223.2% in 2021.

EOG resourcesHeadquartered in Houston, TX, the company has prime drilling sites in all productive shale games in the United States, including the Delaware Basin, a sub-basin of the wider Permian. The company, ranked 2 on Zacks, is expected to see earnings growth of 199.3% in 2021.

Headquarters in Midland, TX, Diamondback Energy is a pure Permian player with presence in more than 347,000 net acres in Permian. The company has more than 12,300 gross horizontal locations, improving its manufacturing prospects. The Zacks # 1 leaderboard in particular is expected to grow 91.8% in earnings in 2021.

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Check out Zacks’ 3 Best Stocks To Play This Trend >>

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