Hedge Funds Like These 5 Cheap Energy Stocks

#2 WPX Energy Inc. (NYSE:WPX)

– Hedge Funds with Long Positions (as of December 31): 34

– Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of December 31): $420.15 Million

The number of hedge fund managers bullish on WPX Energy Inc. (NYSE:WPX) declined to 34 from 37 during the October-to-December period, while the value of their positions in the company dropped to $420.15 million from $529.72 million during that period. The funds tracked by Insider Monkey which remained bullish on WPX owned almost 27% of its outstanding shares at the end of 2015. WPX Energy is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company that relies on oil positions in the Williston Basin in North Dakota and the Permian and San Juan Basins in the southwestern United States. North Dakota’s Bakken formation has received massive attention from exploration and production companies in recent years, but numerous companies are turning their attention to more efficient assets in other regions as crude oil prices remain at deflated levels. WPX’s planned capital expenditures for 2016 are estimated to be in the range of $350 million to $370 million, most of which will be channeled towards its operations in the Permian Basin ($175 million-to-$225 million). Nonetheless, the company still plans to spend $100 million-to-$125 million in the Bakken formation throughout 2016. The sustained softness in commodity prices has pushed WPX’s stock price down by 41% in the past 12 months, though the stock is 11% in the green year-to-date. Steven Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management trimmed its position in WPX Energy Inc. (NYSE:WPX) by 32% in the December quarter to 9.10 million shares.

#1 Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL)

– Hedge Funds with Long Positions (as of December 31): 40

– Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of December 31): $427.70 Million

Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL) was the most-loved low-priced energy stock among top investors at the end of December 2015, with 40 hedge funds in our database being invested in the company. That total was down slightly from 42 funds at the end of the third quarter, while the value of their positions in Whiting Petroleum dropped to $427.70 million from $767.20 million quarter-over-quarter. It should also be mentioned that the group of funds bullish on Whiting had ownership of approximately 22% of its outstanding common stock. The shares of Whiting Petroleum have recovered from their multi-year lows reached in February, but are still down by 3% since the beginning of the year. Whiting Petroleum is an independent oil and gas company whose production and exploration activities are mainly conducted in the Rocky Mountains and Permian Basin regions. The company’s exploration and development budget for 2016 stands at $500 million, a vast decrease from the $2.3 billion spent on E&D in 2015. Whiting Petroleum’s management anticipates that its 2016 capital budget will be funded with net cash from operating activities, proceeds from divestitures, and cash on hand. It should be noted that the company plans to suspend completion operations starting in the second quarter, which simply means Whiting Petroleum will not add new working oil wells after the first quarter ends. However, Whiting management suggested during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call that it may start to complete a portion of its uncompleted wells should crude oil prices reach $45 per barrel. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management had 8.86 million shares of Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL) in its portfolio at the end of 2015.

Disclosure: None