As 2011 comes to a close, it's a great time to look back at what happened to the stocks that interest you. By making sure you know the important things that a company accomplished -- as well as the setbacks it experienced -- you can make a better decision about whether it's a smart investment for your portfolio.
Today, let's take a look at Samson Oil & Gas (AMEX: SSN). With its operations squarely focused on the booming natural gas industry, Samson Oil & Gas has looked poised to benefit from efforts to increase demand. Yet the stock has still suffered throughout 2011. Below, I'll take a closer look at the events that moved Samson Oil & Gas's stock this year.
Stats on Samson Oil & Gas
| Year-to-Date Stock Return | 24.9% |
| Market Cap | $144 million |
| Revenue, Trailing 12 Months | $7.6 million |
| 1-Year Revenue Growth | 187.3% |
| 1-Year Profit Growth | NM (loss of $8.4 million over past 12 months) |
| Cash / Debt | $54 million / $0 |
| CAPS Rating | * |
Source: S&P Capital IQ. NM = not meaningful.
What happened to Samson Oil & Gas this year?
There's nothing more exciting for an investor than to own a company that's on the cutting edge of something big. That's where Samson is right now, as the tiny Australia-based driller has worked hard to fund its development programs, selling off some of its Wyoming properties to Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) to pay off all its debt and give it a hefty cash balance to boot.
Even more promising have been early results from Samson's Niobrara holdings, through its joint venture with Halliburton (NYSE: HAL). Combined with the company's exposure to the Bakken play -- an area where Brigham Exploration, which was recently bought out by Statoil (NYSE: STO), and Kodiak Oil & Gas (NYSE: KOG) has had success -- the ramp-up in production could be just the tip of the iceberg for Samson.
The real question for Samson is whether continuing consolidation will make it a target that's too hard to resist. As one of the cheapest Bakken stocks, Samson could see acquisition interest from giants like ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) or SandRidge Energy (NYSE: SD). Samson has no shortage of bigger peers, so it'll be interesting to see how the M&A angle plays out.
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Click here to add Samson Oil & Gas to My Watchlist, which can find all of our Foolish analysis on it and all your other stocks.
