ENSCO (ESV) (EP) (PVA) (PVR) (JEC) (KMI) (FELE) (SF) Ratings, Price Targets

ENSCO PLC (ESV), El Paso Corporation (EP), Penn Virginia (PVA), Penn Virginia (PVR), Jacobs Engineering (JEC), Kinder Morgan (KMI), Franklin Electric Co. (FELE) and Stifel Financial Corp. (SF) had ratings and price targets on them adjusted by analysts.

Jefferies Group upgraded El Paso Corporation (EP) from a "Hold" rating to a "Buy" rating. They have a price target of $35.00 on the company.

Capital One upgraded Penn Virginia (PVA) to a "Neutral" rating.

Wells Fargo & Co. upgraded Penn Virginia (PVR) from an "Outperform" rating to an "Outperform" rating.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Jacobs Engineering (JEC) from an "Overweight" rating to a "Neutral" rating. They have a price target of $52.50 on the company.

Tudor Pickering downgraded Kinder Morgan (KMI) from an "Accumulate" rating to a "Hold" rating.

Ladenburg Thalmann initiated coverage on Franklin Electric Co. (FELE). They placed a "Buy" rating and a price target of $60.00 on the company.

Wells Fargo & Co. initiated coverage on Stifel Financial Corp. (SF). They placed a "Market Perform" rating on the company.

Williams Capital initiated coverage on ENSCO PLC (ESV). They have a "Buy" rating and a price target of $74.00 on the company.

El Paso (EP) Most Shorted Energy Company on NYSE

El Paso Corporation (NYSE:EP) is the most shorted energy company on the New York Stock Exchange, with 16,121,749 shares sold short on April 29.

Another 11,689,951 shares were sold short on April 15.

The company continues to trade about 4 million shares above the 3-month daily average, suggesting shorting activity continues.

Separately, hedge fund Jana Partners LLC announced it has increased its stake in El Paso to over 4 percent. Move industry watchers consider it a strategy to pressure the company to break itself up.

Shareholders have been pushing the company to make such a move and consider the pace of proposed changes too slow.

El Paso Corp. closed Monday at $18.44, gaining $0.22, or 1.21 percent.

Price Targets on (BSFT) (CEP) (CHK) (CXO) (EP) Updated

Price targets on Broadsoft Inc (NASDAQ: BSFT), Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEP), Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK), Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE: CXO) and El Paso Corporation (NYSE: EP) updated by analysts.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) raised their price target on Broadsoft Inc (BSFT) to $48.50. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) cut their price target on Constellation Energy (CEP) from $3.50 to $3.00. They have a “hold” rating on the company.

Barclays Capital cut their price target on Chesapeake Energy (CHK) from $46.00 to $42.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

Barclays Capital raised their price target on Concho Resources Inc. (CXO) from $121.00 to $123.00. They have an “equal weight” rating on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) raised their price target on El Paso Corporation (EP) from $22.00 to $24.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

Dividend Yields for (HP) (MEE) (RRC) (COG) (EP)

Indicated dividend yields for Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies Helmerich & Payne Inc (HP), Massey Energy Co (MEE), Range Resources Corp (RRC), Cabot Oil & Gas Corp (COG) and El Paso Corp (EP).

These dividend data indicate dividend yields of companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index as of Saturday, April 30. The yield is determined by taking the latest declared dividend, annualized and divided by the price of the stock. Payout ratios are calculated based on latest quarterly dividend paid divided by earnings.

Helmerich & Payne Inc (HP) has a dividend yield of 0.36 percent on a declared dividend of $0.06. The payout ratio is 6.5 percent.

Massey Energy Co (MEE) has a dividend yield of 0.35 percent on a declared dividend of $0.06. The payout ratio is na.

Range Resources Corp (RRC) has a dividend yield of 0.28 percent on a declared dividend of $0.04. The payout ratio is 69.3 percent.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp (COG) has a dividend yield of 0.21 percent on a declared dividend of $0.03. The payout ratio is 24.2 percent.

El Paso Corp (EP) has a dividend yield of 0.21 percent on a declared dividend of $0.01. The payout ratio is 11.3 percent.

El Paso (EP), Range Resources (RRC), Williams (WMB) Driving Options Interest

Worries abated over another fast surge in the price of oil, but options traders are still betting that turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa will continue to ripple through the energy sector.

Traders accumulated bullish positions in companies that focus on oil-and-gas production, transport or exploration, like El Paso Corp. (NYSE:EP), Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC) and Williams Cos. (NYSE:WMB) Analysts said energy bulls are looking past oil's stabilization to around $98 a barrel and Saudi Arabia's supply assurances.

"The view is that the spike in crude oil will help the industry over time, [that] demand for things like drilling or oil-related services will remain strong," WhatsTrading.com analyst Frederic Ruffy said.

The activity came after similar moves in options to buy shares in Brazil's Petrobras (NYSE:PBR), GMX Resources Inc. (NYSE:GMXR), Quicksilver Resources Inc. (NYSE:KWK), Petrohawk Energy Corp. (NYSE:HK) and Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. (AMEX:KOG) earlier last week.





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Marathon (NYSE:MRO), Repsol (NYSE:REP), Tesoro (NYSE:TSO), El Paso (NYSE:EP), Williams (NYSE:WMB) Finish Up on Strong Trading Day Thursday

The announcement by Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) that they were going to spin off their refining business helped pull up the overall industry, and others like Repsol (NYSE:REP), Tesoro (NYSE:TSO), El Paso (NYSE:EP) and Williams (NYSE:WMB) all finished Thursday positive.

Another early factor in Thursday energy trading was oil rising above $92 a barrel, but falling back later in the trading session, sending mixed signals, causing other companies to fall some, including Newfield Exploration (NYSE:NFX) and Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR).

Marathon closed the day at $42.97, gaining $2.45, or 6.04 percent. Repsol ended the trading session at $29.89, gaining $2.00, or 7.17 percent. El Paso closed at $14.09, gaining $0.29, or 2.10 percent. Williams closed trading at $26.52, up $0.63, or 2.43 percent. Tesoro closed at $18.89, up $0.12, or 0.64 percent.