Oil Prices Running Higher And These 3 Stocks Are Winning

Oil prices are just starting to gush higher.

Last trading at $64.85, oil could rally back to $70 with growing optimism over US-China trade talks. In fact, if a deal can be reached, there’s hope it will boost the global economic outlook and fuel demand. Plus, according to Bank of America, oil could push higher on short covering.

“Much of this advance appears technically driven and such rallies can easily subside without new bullish headlines,” analysts at energy advisory firm Ritterbusch and Associates said, as quoted by Reuters. “Much attention will be given to the ongoing U.S.-China trade talks.”

As a result of higher oil prices, oil giants like EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG), APA Corp. (NASDAQ: APA) and Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) are all gaining big momentum.

EOG Resources 

Up about $3.55 to $117.88, EOG Resources is just starting to pivot higher. From $117.88, we’d like to see EOG retest $130 a share initially. Better, as we wait for further recovery, we can collect its 3.31% yield. The company will pay a dividend of $0.975 on July 31 to shareholders of record as of July 17. Moving forward, the company will pay a dividend of $1.02 per share, which is payable on October 31 to shareholders of record as of October 17.

Helping, UBS analysts just raised their price target to $140 from $135 with a buy rating. The firm increased its price target after EOG announced it would acquire Encino Energy for $5.6 billion. Analysts at Raymond James have a strong buy rating on EGO with a $158 price target, citing EOG’s acquisition of Encino, which will also strengthen its position in the Utica region.

And, analysts at Barclays raised their price target to $140 with an equal weight rating. “The Encino deal fits the company’s strategic rationale to gain scale and efficiency in what will be EOG’s third largest foundation play,” they said, as quoted by TipRanks.com.

APA Corp.

Up about 3.5% to $19.29, APA Corp. is also seeing a good deal of upside on the day. From that last traded price, we’d like to see APA initially retest $23 a share. Helping, APA director Chansoo Joung recently paid $1.37 million for 75,000 shares, an average price of $18.25.

Also, while we wait for APA to recover more lost ground, we can collect its yield of 5.2%. The company just declared a quarterly dividend of 25 cents, which is payable on August 22 to shareholders of record as of July 22. Fueling further upside, APA is targeting $225 million in annualized cost savings by the end of the year.

Raymond James just raised its APA price target to $25 with an outperform rating. All after APA posted a solid quarter beating on production and EPS, while 2025 capital expenditure guidance was reduced thanks to a weaker oil environment.

In its most recent quarter, APA’s EPS of $1.06 beat estimates by 24 cents. Revenue of $2.64 billion, up 35.4% year over year, beat by $44 million.

“We have achieved substantial capital savings, particularly due to efficiency gains in Permian drilling, and are also making good progress on both completions and facilities,” said John J. Christmann IV, APA’s CEO. “On the G&A front, we are streamlining our organizational structure and reducing discretionary third-party spend, as we simplify how we manage our assets.”

Morgan Stanley also raised its APA price target to $21 a share.

Halliburton 

Last trading at $21.75, Halliburton was up 3.5% on the day.

From that last traded price, we’d like to see the HAL stock initially retest $25 a share. Much like APA and EOG, we can collect HAL’s 3.13% dividend while we wait for it to recover.

Halliburton also announced a 2025 second-quarter dividend of seventeen cents ($0.17) a share on the Company’s common stock payable on June 25, 2025, to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 4, 2025.

Analysts at Wells Fargo just raised its price target on HAL to $28 with an overweight rating. As noted by TipRanks.com, “The firm says that the combination of attractive valuation multiples and share prices for the majority of its coverage near their 2021 lows provides an attractive entry point.”

Recent earnings weren’t too shabby. While its EPS of 60 cents was in line with expectations, its revenue of $5.42 billion, which was down 6.6% year over year, beat by $140 million. Plus, the company wants to return $1.6 billion to shareholders through buybacks and dividends.

All of which should help elevate the down, but not out oil giant stock.

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