Eclipse Resources seeks a partner

Article Excerpt

ECLIPSE RESOURCES CORP. $1.68 (New York symbol ECR; Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 302.1 million; Market cap: $507.5 million; No dividend paid; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.eclipseresources.com) produces oil and gas in the Utica and Marcellus Shale basins in southeast Ohio. Eclipse recently hired legal and financial advisors to help it undertake a thorough review of the company’s operations. Eclipse believes a bigger company would be able to extract greater value from its drilling technology. Eclipse is well known in the industry for its technical expertise and its horizontal drilling lengths. It has set several records for lateral lengths, which let producers drill bigger and longer wells that are more efficient and productive. The stock is down sharply from $2.75 a share at the start of this year. Still, the company is profitable, and its technology and extensive reserves give it speculative appeal. Eclipse Resources is a buy for highly aggressive investors. investors. …