UPDATE: UBS Upgrades Ultra Petroleum

In a note dated August 14, UBS analyst William Featherston upgraded shares of Ultra Petroleum (NYSE: UPL) from Neutral to Buy and raised the price target from $26 to $29.

As reasons for the upgrade, Featherston noted 1) the "materially accretive" asset swap with Shell, 2) 2014-18 cash flow per debt adjusted share growth is expected to outpace peers, 3) the bear case was removed given "more conservative" oil production guidance, improved capital efficiency, and accretive estimate revisions, and 4) the stock currently trades at a discount to peers based on EV/EBITDX and price/NAV.