Oil States shares rise on upgrade

Shares of Oil States International Inc. climbed on Friday, after the company's low-priced stock and potential for gains from the Kearl oil sands project prompted an analyst to raise the oil services provider's rating.

Shares rose 67 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $20.98 in afternoon trading. Shares have traded between $11.14 and $64.84 over the last 52 weeks.

Credit Suisse analyst Arun Jayaram said Friday that Oil States' stock is one of the cheapest in the sector and boosted his rating to "Outperform" from "Neutral."

Jayaram said the company's oil sands accommodations segment, which provides lodging, catering and other services for workers operating in remote areas, faces an "intriguing" opportunity to provide services to the Kearl Oil Sands project, which is operated by Imperial Oil and Exxon Mobil Corp., and is expected to move forward as early as this quarter. Kearl is located about 43 miles northeast of Ft. McMurray, Alberta.

"We believe Oil States could be a prime beneficiary if the Kearl project is sanctioned given the close proximity of its newly constructed Wapasu Creek lodge," said Jayaram. "While Imperial Oil has historically managed its own accommodation units, Imperial is already using the facilities at Wapasu Creek and we think Oil States is well positioned to be the key supplier of accommodation services should Imperial move ahead with Kearl as we expect."

Jayaram predicted Kearl could drive annual demand for up to 5,000 rooms for site preparation and construction.

He raised his price target for the company to $27 from $24.