Paperstand

The WSJ’s „Heard on the Street” column discusses Repsol (REP), whose stock has rallied 16% in past 2 months. Everyone thinks it is up for sale. Repsol has been assailed by talk of a possible takeover bid by a big oil multinational or a European rival flush with cash after years of high crude prices. The thinking is that Repsol, despite its small size, is appealing b/c of its still-impressive refining operations. In the past few months, co’s such as BP (BP), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) and ENI all have had to issue public denials that they were looking at Repsol, after a surge of mkt speculation. Despite the rampant speculation, investors might want to be wary. Repsol faces a triple-witching hour that threatens to push its shares back to earth. Its shares trade at about 10.3x estd ‘07 earnings, making its stock more expensive than its peer group at a 10.1 avg ratio. Many analysts, at Citigroup and Merrill Lynch, for instance, have become bearish on the stock. Citigroup rates the stock a Hold and has a tgt price of €21. Merrill Lynch has a Neutral rating.