The Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) share price is edging higher in afternoon trade and is now 2.48% in the green at $22.76.
It's been a difficult period for the hydrocarbons giant these past 12 months, with shares down almost 7%. A series of updates and controversies saw prices trade as high as $27.40 and as low as $19.20 in that time, whereas shares have been trading sideways since December.
With the landscape for hydrocarbons players shifting substantially over the coming decade, the horizon for Woodside investors is set to be a colourful one. So, is it a buy in 2022? Here's what the experts think.
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Is Woodside a buy in 2022?
The team at Morgans has Woodside as a buy and value the company at $29.95 per share in a recent update.
Morgans likes Woodside on a number of layers, including its forecasted dividend of $1.21 cents per share in FY22 and $1.06 cents/share in FY23.
The firm is also constructive on Woodside's petroleum asset merger with BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP). It reckons the company "has benefited from being in the right place, at the right time", especially as the pair already has existing relationships.
In the opine of Morgans, Woodside is "clearly getting the better of the deal", especially as BHP is willing to accept a discount for the deal.
The deal is "transformative" according to the broker, and will position Woodside "into being a top 10 global E&P with +2 billion barrels of 2P reserves".
Back in November, Morgan Stanley was pleasantly surprised at the company's Scarborough project's return prospects.
In making a final investment decision on the project last year, the company estimates an internal rate of return (IRR) of 13.5% and sees a lower breakeven at $5.8/mmbtu.
Morgan Stanley says the upgrade is likely due to "capex carry from Global Infrastructure Partners should Woodside deliver the downstream for $5.6 billion".
Jarden and Credit Suisse are also bullish on Woodside and value the company at $27.80 and $28.32 per share respectively.
From a list of analysts provided by Bloomberg Intelligence, 73% have Woodside as a buy right now, whereas the remainder have it as a hold or sell.
Woodside share price summary
The Woodside share price has started 2022 well and is more than 3% in the green to start the year. Over the past month, it has also climbed more than 5% amid price strengths in the oil markets from December.
Brent is now up more than 47% for the past 12 months and has climbed over 9% in the last month of trading, although this rate of change has yet to be reflected in Woodside's shares.
On the longer-term time frames, the Woodside share price has lagged the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).
