Shares of Australian company Santos (ASX:STO) saw a major surge of as much as 3.7% to A$7.94.

If the gains are maintained, it would make it Santos' best day since mid-June.

The shares of the oil and gas behemoth have been positively reviewed by analysts at UBS, who raised their price target for Santos from A$8.70/share to A$8.80/share, maintaining the ‘Buy’ rating for the company.

UBS has expressed an ‘incremental’ positive outlook for the team at Santos' Pikka Project in Alaska and believes that Santos is determined to sell down a 15% stake in the project over the course of the following year.

They have also increased their EPS expectations for 2023-2025 by 4-8% to reflect the 2.6% sell-down of the company’s stake in the PNG LNG Project.

LSEG data also shows that 12 out of 15 analysts rate the stock ‘buy’ or higher, and three rate it ‘hold,’ with a median price target of A$8.88.

So far, this year as of last close, Santos' stock has risen by 7.3%.

Santos is a major Australian oil and gas company.