Stone Energy Corp. (NYSE: SGY) said April 11 it retained Petrie Partners LLC to assist its board with determining the strategic direction of the Lafayette, La.-based company.

The decision follows Stone Energy's exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February and the $527 million sale of its Marcellus and Utica acreage to EQT Corp. (NYSE: EQT). Through its reorganization, the company eliminated about $1.1 billion of debt, leaving roughly $236.3 million of outstanding debt.

The board intends to explore all potential avenues to increase stockholder value, according to a company press release. This may include the acquisition of additional assets, accessing external capital, a business combination or another strategic transaction.

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"We are committed to increasing stockholder value and, as a newly appointed board of directors, we believe that engaging a financial advisor to help us assess the company and its strategic alternatives will best enable us to establish an appropriate course," Neal Goldman, chairman of Stone Energy's board, said in a statement.

Stone Energy's portfolio is focused on low-cost deepwater Gulf of Mexico where the company has about 35 million barrels of oil equivalent of estimated proved reserves as of year-end 2016.

Currently, no decision has been made with regard to any alternatives, and there can be no assurance that this assessment will result in any transaction, the release said.