Gulfport Energy initiated with an Outperform at William Blair

William Blair analyst Neal Dingmann initiated coverage of Gulfport Energy (GPOR) with an Outperform rating. Gulfport is a free cash flow machine with a nearly 20% yield and returning most cash as stock buybacks, the firm notes. Operations remain flexible, pivoting toward Utica natural gas or liquids, whatever market conditions dictate. In Blair’s opinion, Gulfport could trade as high as 4.0-times and 13%; applying a 4.0-times multiple and 13% yield suggests an equally weighted fair value of $231 per share, or 37% upside.