Topic: How To Invest

Pat: I was wondering what you know about Approach Resources. They seem to have potential in West Texas. Thanks.

Article Excerpt

Approach Resources, $7.13, symbol AREX on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 39.6 million; Market cap: $267.0 million; www.approachresources.com), develops, produces, acquires and explores for shale oil and gas reserves in the Midland Basin, part of West Texas’s Permian Basin. In the three months ended September 30, 2014, the company’s production rose 61.4%, to an average of 14.2 million barrels of oil equivalent a day from 8.8 million a year earlier. Its production is 69% oil and 31% gas. Cash flow per share rose 70.6%, to $1.16 from $0.68. Approach’s $339.5 million of debt is a high 127% of its $267.0-million market cap, but that’s mostly because its market cap has dropped lately, along with those of most oil and gas stocks. Approach has around 137,000 acres of undeveloped land, which gives it a lot of long-term growth potential. It will likely spend around $400 million on exploration and development in 2015, which could boost its production by 24%—although it could cut that spending back if…