There are cheaper oilfield services stocks out there but few better ones than Core Laboratories (NYSE: CLB), as evidenced by the 48-fold increase in the share price since the 1995 initial public offering.

The Houston-based, Dutch-domiciled reservoir assessment and management specialist hit more pay dirt with last week’s beat-and-raise quarterly report, which propelled shares to a record high.

First-quarter earnings per share jumped 12 percent, beating the consensus estimate by 7 cents per share, while revenue rose 11 percent year-over-year, doubling the growth Wall Street was expecting. Core Labs also increased its annual guidance, anticipating revenue growth of at least 9 percent for the year.

The company continues to benefit from the shift in energy exploration in production to deep offshore fields and unconventional land formations where challenging geography makes its expertise especially valuable. The same holds true for deep horizontal wells, which Core can help to perforate in ways that maximize production. As finding reserves and drilling wells gets more expensive, the economic imperative to optimize resource recovery increases, once again to the company’s advantage.

These tailwinds have helped the stock gain 32 percent since the beginning of the year, marking it as the clear standout in the Growth Portfolio. And while shares trading at nearly 21 times Enterprise Value to trailing EBITDA can hardly be described as a bargain, Core Labs’ expanding margins, shareholder-friendly management and opportunities for continued growth gives us confidence that they offer solid value.

Like Warren Buffett, we would rather own a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price. With that in mind, we’re changing our recommendation from a Hold back to a Buy in a narrow window modestly above current price levels. Buy CLB below $150 a share.