Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio)’s hedge fund Whiting Petroleum took a 5.02% stake in Whiting Petroleum Corporation (WLL, Financial), a company that has seen a number of guru buyers, on July 2, according to Real Time Picks.
Halvorsen purchased 10,260,287 of the company’s shares, worth 1.25% of his total managed assets. The company’s share price closed at $33.79 on the reported day of the purchase, far below their 52-week high of $92.92, and near a five-year low. Shares tumbled 62.5% over the past year, as WTI crude oil prices slipped 45.6% from July last year.
Whiting is a $6.1 billion market cap independent exploration and production company based in Denver and drilling in North Dakota, northern Colorado and Texas.
In the first quarter, Whiting had record oil production at 166,930 barrels, reflecting a 4% pro forma increase from the previous quarter. It predicted 6% year over year production increase for the second quarter despite cutting rig count down to an average of 11 rigs for the second half of 2015, from 25 rigs in the same period of 2014, and various other asset sales.
The company’s first quarter revenue fell to $529.2 million, from $740.3 million in the same period the previous year. It also reported a net loss of $159.9 million, or 63 cents per diluted share, from net earnings of $185.4 million, or 91 cents, in the year-ago period.
Other gurus took notice of the company in the first quarter. Kyle Bass (Trades, Portfolio), Eric Mindich (Trades, Portfolio) and Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) each established new positions in Whiting. Paul Singer (Trades, Portfolio), Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) and Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) each significantly increased their existing stakes. Two others, Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) and Scott Black (Trades, Portfolio), sold out of their positions.
In the first quarter, Halvorsen also upped his positions in oil and gas companies Cheniere Energy Inc. (LNG, Financial) and Transocean Ltd. (RIG, Financial).
Whiting has a P/B ratio of 0.89 and P/S ratio of 1.33.
