S&P Raises Forest Oil (FST) to Hold from Sell

S&P raised Forest Oil (NYSE: FST) from a sell to hold on a higher earnings projection for 2010, in the Mar. 3, edition of The Outlook. The earnings consensus is $2.12 for 2010, and Jaywalk’s analyst consensus is Hold.

From S&P:

“Fourth-quarter operating earnings before all items came in at $0.56 a share, falling $0.06 short of our forecast. Production was 2% above our view, but offset by lower realized prices. Volume in 2010 will be impacted by $1.1 billion in 2009 asset sales. Forest Oil sees 10% to 12% organic growth. We raise our 2010 earnings view by $0.11 to $2.14 a share and set 2011’s at $2.54 a share on 5% production growth. We lift our target price $2 to $27, on updated net asset value and relative metrics. On improved debt levels and organic growth visibility, we view the shares as fairly valued."