Tag - Arex

Arthrocare Corp (Nasdaq:ARTC), WNS Holdings Ltd (Nasdaq:WNS) and CFS Bancorp Inc (Nasdaq:CITZ) are among the new 52-week lows in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: PDL BioPharma Inc. (Nasdaq:PDLI), Take Two Interactive Software Inc. (Nasdaq:TTWO), Approach Resources Inc .(Nasdaq:AREX), Gladstone Commerical REIT (Nasdaq:GOOD), Bancorp Rhode Island Inc. (Nasdaq:BARI) and Tennant Co. (Nasdaq:TNC).

Here are the new 52-week lows among small caps:

Approach Resources Inc. (Nasdaq:AREX)
Fort Worth, Texas
http://www.approachresources.com

52-week low/high: $9.20/$23.57
Shares Outstanding: 20.65 million
Market Capitalization: $464 million

With all the talk of alternative energy, there’re still prolific profits to be made for companies whose modus operandi is sniffing the four corners of the earth for a scent of black gold. Be it offshore, onshore, coal bed, fields and the very depths of the earth, literally striking it rich is an appealing prospect to even the little guys, which is where Approach Resources Inc. (Nasdaq:AREX) comes in.

Small-cap Approach seeks natural gas and oil properties onshore in the United States and British Columbia, hunting mainly for natural gas reserves in known tight sands and shale gas areas. The Fort Worth, Texas company operates substantially all of its proven reserves, giving it control over capital expenditures and other operating matters. Its interests are in West Texas, East Texas, Northeast British Columbia, North New Mexico and Southwest Kentucky; total leasehold interests are a net 191,182 acres, or nearly 300 square miles.

Of those interests, all of Approach’s proven reserves and production are in the Ozona Northeast and Cinco Terry in west Texas, and in North Bald Prairie in east Texas. Proven reserves were 89% natural gas. Proven reserve life is 21 years. 

By concentrating on properties already producing, Approach in 2008 expects to increase natural gas production to 7,400 to 7,700 million cubic feet (MMcf), up from 4,900 MMcf in 2007. Oil production is expected at 120 to 125 thousand barrels (Mbbl) up from 80 Mbbl in 2007.

Those are great expectations. But then there are costs. One study by the Ziff Energy Group early this year said unit operating costs in the Permian Basin, located mostly in west Texas, have increased significantly. For oil fields, the average operating cost increased 34% in the 12 months from mid 2006 to mid 2007 — in line with the rise in oil prices — to $10.42 per barrel. For gas fields, the average rose 45% to nearly $1.35 per thousand cubic feet.

Big operators in the Ziff study had much lower operating costs than the averages, so the smaller guys have been carrying the burden: industry research points out the impact on explorers and developers, who must hustle for acreage and pay steeply for reserves that will produce in the future, when the price of energy may be quite different that that of today.

So far, Approach has beared the burden well. For the quarter ended March 31, 2008, net income for the first quarter of 2008 was $2.8 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, on revenues of $19 million, compared with a net loss of $581,000, or $0.06 per diluted share, on revenues of $9.4 million for the first quarter of 2007. EBITDAX increased 75% to $15.2 million from $8.7 million for the first quarter of 2007. Production for the first quarter of 2008 totaled 2 Bcfe, compared with 1.4 Bcfe produced in the first quarter of 2007, an increase of 46%. First quarter 2008 production was 84% natural gas and 16% oil and NGLs, compared with 91% natural gas and 9% oil and NGLs in the first quarter of 2007.

When sifting through potential investments, don’t ignore Approach before it slips through your fingers in pursuit of a higher stock price.

Note: Approach Resources Inc. (Nasdaq:AREX) is on the “Watch List” of Rising Star Stocks, a subscription investment newsletter from Business Financial Publishing, which also publishes SmallCapInvestor.com. As a Watch List company, Approach displays many characteristics found in successful stock winners, and is being closely monitored for possible inclusion in the Rising Star Stocks portfolio at a later date.

Here are the biggest percentage gainers and losers in pre-market trading among companies with a market cap between $50 million and $750 million:

Biggest percentage gainers:

• STEC, Inc. (Nasdaq:STEC), up 10% after the provider of flash memory products posted first-quarter results that trumped analysts’ estimates and issued rosy second-quarter guidance above the consensus on Wall Street.
• Eagle Test Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:EGLT), up 9%.
• Approach Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq:AREX), up 9%.

Biggest percentage losers:

• RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd. (Nasdaq: RRST), down 4.3%, despite reporting first-quarter results that met Wall Street’s expectations. The provider of content management and global distribution services also issued second-quarter revenue guidance that was inline with the Street.
• Immersion Corp. (Nasdaq:IMMR), down 3.3%.
• PeopleSupport Inc. (Nasdaq:PSPT), down 2.3%.

Rex Energy Corp. (Nasdaq:REXX), City Holding Company (Nasdaq:CHCO) and Axsys Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:AXYS) were among the new 52-week highs established during Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations or values under $750 million.

Natus Medical, Inc. (Nasdaq:BABY), Approach Resources Inc. (Nasdaq:AREX) and K-Tron International, Inc. (Nasdaq:KTII) were also among the 52-week small-cap highs.

Here are Friday's 52-week small-cap highs:

Oil and gas explorers are searching everywhere for a hint of fossil fuel: offshore, onshore, in rock, fields, coal beds, the depths of earth. Here’s one that might prefer a day at the beach: Approach Resources Inc. (Nasdaq:AREX). It’s looking for natural gas in sands and shale.

It would seem to be a good time to be a member of the explorers’ club, what with energy prices near all-time highs. But even though producers are selling at record levels, costs are rising too, and this is jeopardizing profits — particularly of smaller outfits, such as developers, who seek to expand by buying high-priced property.

Approach seeks natural gas and oil properties onshore in the United States and British Columbia, hunting mainly for natural gas reserves in known tight sands and shale gas areas. The Fort Worth, Texas-based company, with market capitalization of $391 million, operates substantially all of its proven reserves, giving it control over capital expenditures and other operating matters. Its interests are in West Texas, East Texas, Northeast British Columbia, North New Mexico and Southwest Kentucky; total leasehold interests are a net 191,182 acres, or nearly 300 square miles.

Of those interests, all of Approach’s proven reserves and production are in the Ozona Northeast and Cinco Terry in west Texas, and in North Bald Prairie in east Texas. Proven reserves were 89% natural gas. A positive sign for this year: the company increased proven reserves to 180.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent on Dec. 31, up 71% from the previous year. Proven reserve life is 21 years. 

By concentrating on properties already producing, Approach in 2008 expected to increase natural gas production to 7,400 to 7,700 million cubic feet (MMcf), up from 4,900 MMcf in 2007. Oil production is expected at 120 to 125 thousand . . .