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SM Energy (SM) Presents Encouraging Drilling Results, Up 5.2%
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SM Energy Company (SM - Free Report) jumped 5.2% yesterday, after it provided multiple positive operating and fundamental points in the J.P. Morgan 2021 energy conference.
The company intends to maximize free cash flow by 2025. Earlier, it decreased the full-year 2021 capital spending plan by 27% from the February guidance to $650-675 million. Next year, capital expenditure is expected to further decline and remain stable till 2025. Of the total 2021 capital spending plan, 90% will be used for drilling and completion activities.
Around 70% of the total capital will likely be utilized in the prolific Midland Basin, while the rest will go to South Texas. In the Midland Basin, the company has 82,000 net acres and is running three rigs with three completion crews. SM Energy’s well performance in the region is expected to be better than most of its peers. Its breakeven oil pricing in the area is estimated within $12-$31 per barrel NYMEX.
The company has around 155,000 net acres in the South Texas, where it is running two rigs. Its transportation costs in the region are expected to drop 25 cents per thousand cubic feet from mid-2021. Furthermore, it will likely witness an additional reduction of 35 cents per thousand cubic feet by mid-2023. This will likely give SM Energy’s bottom line an upward thrust. Moreover, it has presented encouraging results from the Austin Chalk, wherein breakeven oil price is expected within $12-$28 per barrel NYMEX. Markedly, the wells in the region are producing around 50-80% liquids, which will boost investor value.
SM Energy has a strong hedging position, which will provide it with cash flow stability. For the second half of the year, the company hedged 75-80% expected oil volumes at $40.66 per barrel to the West Texas Intermediate. Also, it hedged 85% of its second half-2021 estimated natural gas volumes. Although the hedges provide lower risk from volatile commodity prices, the company is expected to incur millions of hedging losses due to high current commodity prices. This can put a small dent in its potential cash flow generation.
Moving on from the hedging losses in second half-2021, the company is likely to generate massive cash flow over a five-year period, which can fund its debt reduction program. The company is retiring or repurchasing almost $400 million principal amount from 2022 and 2024 outstanding senior notes. At first quarter-end, it had liquidity of $965 million and $2,321.7 million in net debt.
Price Performance
SM Energy’s stock has increased 21.7% in the month-to-date period compared with 8.4% growth of the industry.
PDC Energy’s bottom line for 2021 is expected to jump 129.1% year over year.
Pembina Pipeline’s bottom line for 2021 is expected to rise 42.2% year over year.
PHX Minerals’ bottom line for 2021 is expected to surge 180% year over year.
More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!
It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 77 billion devices by 2025, creating a $1.3 trillion market.
Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 4 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2022.
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SM Energy (SM) Presents Encouraging Drilling Results, Up 5.2%
SM Energy Company (SM - Free Report) jumped 5.2% yesterday, after it provided multiple positive operating and fundamental points in the J.P. Morgan 2021 energy conference.
The company intends to maximize free cash flow by 2025. Earlier, it decreased the full-year 2021 capital spending plan by 27% from the February guidance to $650-675 million. Next year, capital expenditure is expected to further decline and remain stable till 2025. Of the total 2021 capital spending plan, 90% will be used for drilling and completion activities.
Around 70% of the total capital will likely be utilized in the prolific Midland Basin, while the rest will go to South Texas. In the Midland Basin, the company has 82,000 net acres and is running three rigs with three completion crews. SM Energy’s well performance in the region is expected to be better than most of its peers. Its breakeven oil pricing in the area is estimated within $12-$31 per barrel NYMEX.
The company has around 155,000 net acres in the South Texas, where it is running two rigs. Its transportation costs in the region are expected to drop 25 cents per thousand cubic feet from mid-2021. Furthermore, it will likely witness an additional reduction of 35 cents per thousand cubic feet by mid-2023. This will likely give SM Energy’s bottom line an upward thrust. Moreover, it has presented encouraging results from the Austin Chalk, wherein breakeven oil price is expected within $12-$28 per barrel NYMEX. Markedly, the wells in the region are producing around 50-80% liquids, which will boost investor value.
SM Energy has a strong hedging position, which will provide it with cash flow stability. For the second half of the year, the company hedged 75-80% expected oil volumes at $40.66 per barrel to the West Texas Intermediate. Also, it hedged 85% of its second half-2021 estimated natural gas volumes. Although the hedges provide lower risk from volatile commodity prices, the company is expected to incur millions of hedging losses due to high current commodity prices. This can put a small dent in its potential cash flow generation.
Moving on from the hedging losses in second half-2021, the company is likely to generate massive cash flow over a five-year period, which can fund its debt reduction program. The company is retiring or repurchasing almost $400 million principal amount from 2022 and 2024 outstanding senior notes. At first quarter-end, it had liquidity of $965 million and $2,321.7 million in net debt.
Price Performance
SM Energy’s stock has increased 21.7% in the month-to-date period compared with 8.4% growth of the industry.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
The company currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked players in the energy space include PDC Energy, Inc. , Pembina Pipeline Corporation (PBA - Free Report) and PHX Minerals Inc. (PHX - Free Report) , each having a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
PDC Energy’s bottom line for 2021 is expected to jump 129.1% year over year.
Pembina Pipeline’s bottom line for 2021 is expected to rise 42.2% year over year.
PHX Minerals’ bottom line for 2021 is expected to surge 180% year over year.
More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!
It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 77 billion devices by 2025, creating a $1.3 trillion market.
Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 4 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2022.
Click here for the 4 trades >>