Buy Royal Dutch Shell on a pullback, says Jim Cramer
It seems a major turnaround is unfolding at Royal Dutch Shell, making its stock very attractive should it fall from current levels, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Friday.
So what's going on at the oil and gas giant?
To Cramer, credit goes to CEO Ben van Beurden, who took the helm in January.
"I believe this new CEO is really starting to change this, which had been, a lot of people felt, one of the worst run oil companies. There's so many assets to unlock here," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street."
Indeed, van Beurden plans to sell $15 billion of assets in 2014-15. So far, Royal Dutch Shell has sold or put on the block around $12 billion of assets in Australia, Europe, Nigeria and North America.
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Like other major oil and gas companies, Shell is under pressure from investors to cut soaring costs and increase profit distribution via dividends and share buybacks. Some investors have predicted the asset sales target will rise as it looks unambitious compared to rival BP's asset sales of around $50 billion.
"The CEO has basically said, 'Look, we'll do whatever's necessary to make money here.' And there's a lot of fat in a company like Royal Dutch," Cramer said. "They've got a lot of great assets. They can do a lot of things."
Bullish sentiment toward Shell is mounting on Wall Street, too. The oil giant recently caught upgrades from both Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase.
—By CNBC's Drew Sandholm. Reuters contributed to this story.
DISCLOSURE: When this story was published, Cramer's charitable trust did not own BP or Royal Dutch Shell.