BRIGHAM EXPLORATION CO (BEXP)

[OilStockReport]

Right on que it has a nice consolidation or what I like to call buying opportunity. This one is set up to continue it stellar growth IMO.

Over the past 12 months, Brigham has risen 128% versus an S&P 500 return of 11.3%. Investors in Brigham have every reason to be proud of their returns, but is it time to take some off the top? Not necessarily.

Recent Price $24.46

52-Week High $25.75

5-Year High $25.80

While I would love to be all cheer here there are a number of factors that are worth watching over the next few quarters that should dictate whether we continue our streak or not.

First the price / earnings ration has substantially growth over the last few years to over 80. What is keeping this moving is the strong growth prospects. Then there has been a gradual decline in their gross margins over the last few years but as we all know this has been main street for many stocks during the "great recession". Here, short interest is at a high 8.4%. This typically indicates that large institutional investors are betting against the stock. I consider a debt-to-equity ratio below 50% to be healthy, though it varies by industry. Brigham is slightly above this level, at 53.2%.

Does this mean we should take profits and sell? I wouldn't go that far, this one has a lot of upside based on commodity price increases in 2011 and new developments but I do recommend you keep an eye on these factors mentioned above that will impact this stock one way or another.

Check out what others are saying:

http://caps.fool.com/Ticker/BEXP/Commentary/Page1.aspx