For Immediate Release Chicago, IL – November 11, 2015 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNQ), Apache Corp. (APA), Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD), Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) and Cimarex Energy Co. (XEC ). Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free. Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog: Oil & Gas Stock Roundup It was a week where oil prices again dipped below the $45-a-barrel level, while natural gas futures gained ground on a favorable supply data. On the news front, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. ( CNQ) agreed to sell most of its royalty holdings for C$1.8 billion. Overall, it was a mixed week for the sector. While West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slumped 4.9% to close at $44.29 per barrel, natural gas prices rallied 2.2% to $2.37 per million Btu (MMBtu). (See the last ‘Oil & Gas Stock Roundup’ here: Integrated Business Model Saves Exxon, Chevron Q3 .) Oil prices fell to their third loss in 4 weeks, the backdrop being the U.S. Energy Department's latest inventory release, which showed a bigger-than-expected rise in crude stockpiles. Finally, a stronger dollar has made the greenback-priced crude more valuable for investors holding foreign currency. Natural gas though fared well and jumped to its highest settlement since Oct 22. The heating fuel was spurred by a bullish inventory report and favorable weather forecast. Recap of the Week’s Most Important Stories 1. Calgary, Alberta-based Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. has decided to divest a chunk of its royalty land resources to PrairieSky Royalty Ltd, a company that fellow upstream firm Encana Corp. spun-off last year. The to-be divested properties cover roughly 5.4 million acres all over Western Canada for which PrairieSky will pay C$1.8 billion – including 44.4 million common shares and C$680 million in cash. It is to be noted that with the inclusion of 5.4 million acres of land, PrairieSky will have a total of roughly 14.7 million royalty acres. The asset sale reflects Canadian Natural’s intention to strengthen its balance sheet amid weak oil and natural prices. In fact, Canadian Natural had for some time been considering the sale of its royalty operations in 2015. 2. U.S. energy firm Apache Corp. (APA) reported third quarter loss per share – excluding one-time items – of $0.05, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $0.38. The outperformance came on the back of strong North American liquids output. The production of oil and natural gas (excluding divested assets and non-controlling interests) averaged 486,409 oil-equivalent barrels per day (BOE/d) (65% liquids), up 7% year over year. However, the company’s performance deteriorated from the year-ago adjusted profit amid a plunge in oil prices. But what is encouraging is the fact that production volumes are likely to increase 10-12% in 2015 despite a massive decrease in budgeted capital expenditures from 2014 levels. (See More: Apache q3 Loss Narrower than Expected, Sales Miss .) 3. Irving, TX-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD ) also overcame the weak crude pricing environment to report a narrower-than-expected loss. In particular, the independent oil and gas explorer’s strong production growth helped it outperform. Total output in the reported quarter averaged approximately 210.7 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBOE/d), up 13% year over year. The improvement was attributable to robust yield from core growth assets – Spraberry field and Wolfcamp Shale. For 2015, Pioneer reiterated its capital spending projection of $2.2 billion. Of this, the company has apportioned drilling capex of $1.95 billion and capital for the development of Spraberry/Wolfcamp water infrastructure and vertical integration of $250 million. (See More: Pioneer Natural Posts Narrower-than-Expected Loss in Q3 .) 4. Houston, TX-based leading upstream energy firm Marathon Oil Corp. ( MRO) also posted a narrower-than-expected third quarter loss, thanks to higher production from the U.S. resource plays and cost-control initiatives. The company reported North American production available for sale of 263,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day (BOE/d), up from 250,000 BOE/d in the third quarter of 2014. But again, the bottom line deteriorated considerably from the year ago period amid a freefall in oil prices. For 2015, Marathon Oil expects total year-over-year production growth of 7%, on the higher end of previous guidance range of 5-7%. However, the company lowered its capital spending for the year to $3,100 million from the prior projection of $3,300 million. (See More: Marathon Oil Q3 Loss Narrower than Expected, Revenues Lag .) 5. However, independent oil & gas exploration and production firm Cimarex Energy Co. (XEC ) succumbed to the commodity piece plunge and posted a wider-than-expected third quarter loss. Year-over-year realized prices for natural gas, crude oil and NGL averaged $2.68 per thousand cubic feet (down 35%), $41.89 per barrel (down 52%) and $12.19 per barrel (down 64%), respectively, in the reported quarter. To some extent, this was offset by strong production, which averaged 978.9 million cubic feet equivalent (MMcfe) per day, reflecting a 4% increase year over year. Full-year production is now estimated to average 983-991 MMcfe per day, reflecting a mid-point increase of 14% over 2014. Capital investment for exploration and development is estimated at $900–$950 million for 2015, down from the previous guidance of $1.0 billion. (See More: Cimarex Energy Slips to Wider-Than-Expected Loss in Q3 .) Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >> About Zacks Equity Research Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term. Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons. 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