$Ultra Petroleum(UPL)$ Ultra Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:UPL) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday, Analyst Ratings Net reports.

According to Zacks, “Ultra Petroleum holds substantial acreage in and around the prolific Jonah natural gas field and the Pinedale Anticline area. Both these areas are endowed with rich natural gas reserves, which have remained largely untapped to date. On top of that, UPL’s significant progress on the cost front should result in bottom-line growth, going forward. However, the upstream player's lofty exposure to natural gas, which accounted for 93.4% of the total fourth-quarter production, raises its sensitivity to price volatility. The company’s highly leveraged balance sheet and lack of geographical diversification are its other areas of concern.  “

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on UPL. Nomura lowered their price objective on shares of Ultra Petroleum Corp. from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 2nd. RBC Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Ultra Petroleum Corp. from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, October 30th. KLR Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ultra Petroleum Corp. from $14.00 to $6.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 19th. Johnson Rice cut shares of Ultra Petroleum Corp. from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Drexel Hamilton assumed coverage on shares of Ultra Petroleum Corp. in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Ultra Petroleum Corp. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.17.