Why Ultra Petroleum Is Ready to Rebound

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Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, oil and natural gas company Ultra Petroleum (NYSE: UPL ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Ultra Petroleum and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Ultra Petroleum facts


Headquarters (founded)	Houston, Texas (1979)
Market Cap	$2.6 billion
Industry	Oil and gas exploration and production
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$863.6 million
Management	Chairman/CEO Michael Watford (since 1999) CFO Marshal Smith (since 2005)
Return on Capital (average, past 3 years)	17%
Cash/Debt	$59.2 million/$2.2 billion
Competitors	Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE: COG ) EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG ) XTO Energy

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 97% of the 1,568 members who have rated Ultra Petroleum believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just yesterday, one of those Fools, All-Star RSue, tapped Ultra Petroleum as a particularly timely bargain opportunity:

Now is a worthwhile time to buy shares of this out-of-favor best-of-breed natural gas exploration and production company while the cost of natural gas is still in the doldrums. The share price of [Ultra] just hit a 5 year low, making this a good time to scoop some up on the cheap in order to be well-positioned in advance of an eventual [natural gas] recovery.

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Fool contributor Brian Pacampara has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Ultra Petroleum. It has the following options: Long Jan 2014 $30 Calls on Ultra Petroleum, Long Jan 2014 $40 Calls on Ultra Petroleum, and Long Jan 2014 $50 Calls on Ultra Petroleum. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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