Bill Barrett (NYSE:BBG) Has No Short-Term Catalysts to Move the Company

Citing the current valuation, lack of news flow, and weak natural gas fundamentals for Bill Barrett (NYSE:BBG), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) sees nothing in the short-term that will drive the company.

Wells noted, "Unlike the other downgrades within this note, our downgrade of Bill Barrett Corp is more qualitative rather than a true NAV or multiple based valuation call. Simply put, we think BBG faces headwinds in H1 2011. We don’t view any structural issues with Bill Barrett--we believe the company is well managed and believe that long term the management team does and will add value. And because of this and its current valuation, we struggled more with this downgrade as compared to the other names in this note. But given the move in shares, and lack of expected news flow against a backdrop of weak natural gas fundamentals, we think the risk/reward is neutral near term and thus our Market Perform rating."

Wells Fargo downgraded Bill Barrett from "Outperform" to "Market Perform." Barret closed Friday at $38.46, gaining $0.03, or 0.08 percent.