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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, EOG Resources, and Pioneer Natural Resources
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For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – May 13, 2022 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Shell plc (SHEL - Free Report) , BP plc (BP - Free Report) , ConocoPhillips (COP - Free Report) , EOG Resources (EOG - Free Report) and Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:
Oil & Gas Stock Roundup: Big Names Reporting Q1 Earnings
It was a week wherein oil prices rose back close to $110 and natural gas futures reached a 14-year high.
On the news front, some well-known energy companies like Shell plc, BP plc, ConocoPhillips, EOG Resources, and Pioneer Natural Resources Co. reported March-quarter earnings.
Overall, it was a good seven-day period for the sector. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained around 4.9% to close at $109.77 per barrel, while natural gas prices surged some 11% to end at $8.043 per million British thermal units (MMBtu).
Oil prices settled higher on concerns about supplies from Russia, which is one of the world's largest producers of the commodity. Speculation has it that the European Union could shortly follow the United States in blocking imports of Russian energy to protest Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Natural gas finished up even more strongly, reflecting hotter-than-normal early summer weather, restricted domestic output, strong LNG shipments and high coal prices.
Recap of the Week's Most-Important Stories
1. Europe's largest oil company Shell reported first-quarter earnings per ADS (on a current cost of supplies basis, excluding items — the market's preferred measure) — of $2.38. The bottom line came in above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.12 and surged from the year-earlier quarter's earnings of 82 cents per ADS, backed by stronger commodity prices.
Meanwhile, Shell repurchased $3.5 billion of shares in the first quarter. The energy group also announced that it has already bought back shares worth $4 billion of the total $8.5 billion scheduled for the first half of 2022. The remaining $4.5 billion will be completed before SHEL comes out with second-quarter earnings. On another positive note, Shell boosted its quarterly dividend by some 4% to 25 cents per share.
During the quarter under review, Shell generated cash flow from operations of $14.8 billion, returned $2 billion to its shareholders through dividends and spent $4.2 billion cash on capital projects. The company's cash flow from operations increased 78.6% from the year-earlier level. Meanwhile, the group raked in $10.5 billion in free cash flow during the first quarter compared to $7.7 billion a year ago. (Shell Q1 Earnings Beat on Oil Price, Bumps Dividend)
2. Smaller rival BP reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.92 per American Depositary Share ("ADS") on a replacement-cost basis, excluding non-operating items. The bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of earnings of $1.41 per share and rose from 78 cents reported a year ago. The strong quarterly earnings were driven by higher realizations of commodity prices.
BP announced plans to execute a $2.5-billion share buyback, which is expected to complete before reporting the second-quarter results. The company anticipates buying back $1 billion worth of shares every quarter, considering Brent crude price at $60 per barrel.
BP's net debt, including leases, was $36,129 million at the end of the first quarter versus $42,380 million in the prior-year quarter. Gearing was recorded at 31.5% compared with 31.9% in the prior-year quarter. (BP Beats Q1 Earnings Estimates, Announces Share Buyback)
3 ConocoPhillips — one of the world's largest independent oil and gas producers — reported first-quarter 2022 adjusted earnings per share of $3.27, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.24. Further, the bottom line significantly improved from the prior-year quarter's 69 cents per share. The strong quarterly results have been aided by increased oil-equivalent production volumes and realized commodity prices.
As of Mar 31, 2022, ConocoPhillips had $6.4 billion in cash and cash equivalents. The company had a total long-term debt of $17.6 billion. COP had a debt-to-capitalization ratio of 0.28. At the first-quarter end, the company had short-term debt of $1.2 billion.
ConocoPhillips revised higher its expected 2022 return of capital to shareholders. The new guidance is $10 billion versus the prior projection of $8 billion. COP's incremental returns to stockholders will get distributed through share repurchases and variable returns of cash tiers. (ConocoPhillips Q1 Earnings Beat on Higher Oil Prices)
4 Another upstream giant EOG Resources reported first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $4.00, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.69. The bottom line significantly improved from the year-ago quarter's earnings of $1.62. EOG's strong earnings were driven by higher oil equivalent production and commodity prices.
For the quarter under review, EOG Resources' volumes increased 13.4% year over year to 883,300 BOE/d on higher U.S. output. Committed to shareholder returns, the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company announced a special dividend of $1.80 per share.
As of Mar 31, EOG Resources had cash and cash equivalents of $4 billion. Long-term debt was reported at $3.8 billion. The current portion of the long-term debt was recorded at $1.3 billion. It had a debt to total capitalization of 19.1%. In the reported quarter, the company generated $2.4 billion in free cash flow and incurred $1 billion of capital expenditure. (EOG Resources Q1 Earnings Top Estimates on Higher Price)
5. Finally, we have shale biggie Pioneer Natural Resources Company, which reported first-quarter earnings of $7.74 per share (excluding one-time items), beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.32. The bottom line surged from the year-ago quarter's profit of $1.77 per share. PXD's robust bottom line can be attributed to higher oil-equivalent production volumes and commodity price realizations.
As of Mar 31, Pioneer Natural's cash and cash equivalents totaled $2.4 billion, while long-term debt summed at $5.4 billion. It had a debt to capitalization of 19.4%. In the March-end quarter, the company spent $852 million.
For the second quarter, Pioneer Natural announced a dividend payment of $7.38 per share of common stock, which includes a variable dividend of $6.60 per share and a base dividend of 78 cents. This suggests a 95.2% increase from the prior dividend of $3.78 per share. (Pioneer Natural Tops Q1 Earnings Estimates, Ups Dividend)
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, EOG Resources, and Pioneer Natural Resources
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – May 13, 2022 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Shell plc (SHEL - Free Report) , BP plc (BP - Free Report) , ConocoPhillips (COP - Free Report) , EOG Resources (EOG - Free Report) and Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:
Oil & Gas Stock Roundup: Big Names Reporting Q1 Earnings
It was a week wherein oil prices rose back close to $110 and natural gas futures reached a 14-year high.
On the news front, some well-known energy companies like Shell plc, BP plc, ConocoPhillips, EOG Resources, and Pioneer Natural Resources Co. reported March-quarter earnings.
Overall, it was a good seven-day period for the sector. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained around 4.9% to close at $109.77 per barrel, while natural gas prices surged some 11% to end at $8.043 per million British thermal units (MMBtu).
Oil prices settled higher on concerns about supplies from Russia, which is one of the world's largest producers of the commodity. Speculation has it that the European Union could shortly follow the United States in blocking imports of Russian energy to protest Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Natural gas finished up even more strongly, reflecting hotter-than-normal early summer weather, restricted domestic output, strong LNG shipments and high coal prices.
Recap of the Week's Most-Important Stories
1. Europe's largest oil company Shell reported first-quarter earnings per ADS (on a current cost of supplies basis, excluding items — the market's preferred measure) — of $2.38. The bottom line came in above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.12 and surged from the year-earlier quarter's earnings of 82 cents per ADS, backed by stronger commodity prices.
Meanwhile, Shell repurchased $3.5 billion of shares in the first quarter. The energy group also announced that it has already bought back shares worth $4 billion of the total $8.5 billion scheduled for the first half of 2022. The remaining $4.5 billion will be completed before SHEL comes out with second-quarter earnings. On another positive note, Shell boosted its quarterly dividend by some 4% to 25 cents per share.
During the quarter under review, Shell generated cash flow from operations of $14.8 billion, returned $2 billion to its shareholders through dividends and spent $4.2 billion cash on capital projects. The company's cash flow from operations increased 78.6% from the year-earlier level. Meanwhile, the group raked in $10.5 billion in free cash flow during the first quarter compared to $7.7 billion a year ago. (Shell Q1 Earnings Beat on Oil Price, Bumps Dividend)
2. Smaller rival BP reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.92 per American Depositary Share ("ADS") on a replacement-cost basis, excluding non-operating items. The bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of earnings of $1.41 per share and rose from 78 cents reported a year ago. The strong quarterly earnings were driven by higher realizations of commodity prices.
BP announced plans to execute a $2.5-billion share buyback, which is expected to complete before reporting the second-quarter results. The company anticipates buying back $1 billion worth of shares every quarter, considering Brent crude price at $60 per barrel.
BP's net debt, including leases, was $36,129 million at the end of the first quarter versus $42,380 million in the prior-year quarter. Gearing was recorded at 31.5% compared with 31.9% in the prior-year quarter. (BP Beats Q1 Earnings Estimates, Announces Share Buyback)
3 ConocoPhillips — one of the world's largest independent oil and gas producers — reported first-quarter 2022 adjusted earnings per share of $3.27, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.24. Further, the bottom line significantly improved from the prior-year quarter's 69 cents per share. The strong quarterly results have been aided by increased oil-equivalent production volumes and realized commodity prices.
As of Mar 31, 2022, ConocoPhillips had $6.4 billion in cash and cash equivalents. The company had a total long-term debt of $17.6 billion. COP had a debt-to-capitalization ratio of 0.28. At the first-quarter end, the company had short-term debt of $1.2 billion.
ConocoPhillips revised higher its expected 2022 return of capital to shareholders. The new guidance is $10 billion versus the prior projection of $8 billion. COP's incremental returns to stockholders will get distributed through share repurchases and variable returns of cash tiers. (ConocoPhillips Q1 Earnings Beat on Higher Oil Prices)
4 Another upstream giant EOG Resources reported first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $4.00, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.69. The bottom line significantly improved from the year-ago quarter's earnings of $1.62. EOG's strong earnings were driven by higher oil equivalent production and commodity prices.
For the quarter under review, EOG Resources' volumes increased 13.4% year over year to 883,300 BOE/d on higher U.S. output. Committed to shareholder returns, the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company announced a special dividend of $1.80 per share.
You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
As of Mar 31, EOG Resources had cash and cash equivalents of $4 billion. Long-term debt was reported at $3.8 billion. The current portion of the long-term debt was recorded at $1.3 billion. It had a debt to total capitalization of 19.1%. In the reported quarter, the company generated $2.4 billion in free cash flow and incurred $1 billion of capital expenditure. (EOG Resources Q1 Earnings Top Estimates on Higher Price)
5. Finally, we have shale biggie Pioneer Natural Resources Company, which reported first-quarter earnings of $7.74 per share (excluding one-time items), beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.32. The bottom line surged from the year-ago quarter's profit of $1.77 per share. PXD's robust bottom line can be attributed to higher oil-equivalent production volumes and commodity price realizations.
As of Mar 31, Pioneer Natural's cash and cash equivalents totaled $2.4 billion, while long-term debt summed at $5.4 billion. It had a debt to capitalization of 19.4%. In the March-end quarter, the company spent $852 million.
For the second quarter, Pioneer Natural announced a dividend payment of $7.38 per share of common stock, which includes a variable dividend of $6.60 per share and a base dividend of 78 cents. This suggests a 95.2% increase from the prior dividend of $3.78 per share. (Pioneer Natural Tops Q1 Earnings Estimates, Ups Dividend)
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.