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Leading upstream energy company Pioneer Natural Resources Company (PXD - Free Report) reported fourth-quarter 2016 earnings, excluding one-time items, of 49 cents per share. The bottom line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 30 cents per share. Notably, the company had posted adjusted loss of 18 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter.
Revenues and other income in the quarter increased 9% year over year to $1,168 million from $1,074 million. The top line also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,065 million.
Significantly high commodity prices realizations, along with Spraberry/Wolfcamp horizontal drilling program, mainly resulted in the strong fourth-quarter results.
Production
Total production in the reported quarter averaged approximately 242 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBOE/d), up 12.6% year over year. The Spraberry/Wolfcamp horizontal drilling program of the company led to the outperformance.
Oil production averaged 142.8 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), up 26.5% year over year. Natural gas liquids (NGLs) production jumped 9.1% year over year to 44.3 MBbl/d. Natural gas productions, however, decreased to 328.5 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) from the year-ago level of 366.8 MMcf/d.
Price Realization
On an oil equivalent basis, average realized price was $33.84 per barrel in the reported quarter as against $25.72 a year ago. The average realized price for oil was $46.13 per barrel compared with $37.92 in fourth-quarter 2015.
Average natural gas price jumped 28% year over year to $2.59 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf). Natural gas liquids were sold at $16.76 per barrel as against $12.16 in the year-ago quarter.
Cash, Debt and Capex
At the end of the quarter, cash balance was $1,118 million. Long-term debt was $2,728 million, which represents debt-to-capitalization ratio of 23.6%.
Guidance
For 2017, Pioneer intends to spend $2.8 billion in total. Of this, it has planned drilling and completion capex of $2.5 billion and capital for water infrastructure, vertical integration and field facilities of $275 million.
Pioneer expects production to average between 243 MBOE/d and 248 MBOE/d in the first quarter of 2017. The company expects production growth in 2017 between 15% and 18%.
Proved Reserves
As of Dec 31, 2016, total proved reserves for the company was 726 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE) compared with 664.4 MMBOE as of Jan 1, 2016.
Share Performance
In the last three months, Pioneer Natural underperformed the Zacks categorized Oil & Gas-U.S Exploration & Production industry. During the aforesaid period, the company’s shares lost 1.6% compared with almost 5.4% improvement for the broader industry.
Zacks Rank
Pioneer Natural Resources currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other well-ranked stocks in the energy sector include Imperial Oil Limited (IMO - Free Report) , Northern Oil and Gas Inc. (NOG - Free Report) and Denbury Resources Inc. . Both Imperial Oil and Denbury Resources sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while Northern Oil and Gas carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
In 2017, Imperial Oil’s earnings are anticipated to grow 386.6%.
Northern Oil and Gas posted an average earnings surprise of 81.35% in the last four quarters.
Denbury surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters with an average earnings surprise of 283.33%.
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Pioneer Natural (PXD) Q4 Earnings Beat, Reserves Increase
Leading upstream energy company Pioneer Natural Resources Company (PXD - Free Report) reported fourth-quarter 2016 earnings, excluding one-time items, of 49 cents per share. The bottom line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 30 cents per share. Notably, the company had posted adjusted loss of 18 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter.
Revenues and other income in the quarter increased 9% year over year to $1,168 million from $1,074 million. The top line also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,065 million.
Significantly high commodity prices realizations, along with Spraberry/Wolfcamp horizontal drilling program, mainly resulted in the strong fourth-quarter results.
Production
Total production in the reported quarter averaged approximately 242 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBOE/d), up 12.6% year over year. The Spraberry/Wolfcamp horizontal drilling program of the company led to the outperformance.
Oil production averaged 142.8 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), up 26.5% year over year. Natural gas liquids (NGLs) production jumped 9.1% year over year to 44.3 MBbl/d. Natural gas productions, however, decreased to 328.5 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) from the year-ago level of 366.8 MMcf/d.
Price Realization
On an oil equivalent basis, average realized price was $33.84 per barrel in the reported quarter as against $25.72 a year ago. The average realized price for oil was $46.13 per barrel compared with $37.92 in fourth-quarter 2015.
Average natural gas price jumped 28% year over year to $2.59 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf). Natural gas liquids were sold at $16.76 per barrel as against $12.16 in the year-ago quarter.
Cash, Debt and Capex
At the end of the quarter, cash balance was $1,118 million. Long-term debt was $2,728 million, which represents debt-to-capitalization ratio of 23.6%.
Guidance
For 2017, Pioneer intends to spend $2.8 billion in total. Of this, it has planned drilling and completion capex of $2.5 billion and capital for water infrastructure, vertical integration and field facilities of $275 million.
Pioneer expects production to average between 243 MBOE/d and 248 MBOE/d in the first quarter of 2017. The company expects production growth in 2017 between 15% and 18%.
Proved Reserves
As of Dec 31, 2016, total proved reserves for the company was 726 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE) compared with 664.4 MMBOE as of Jan 1, 2016.
Share Performance
In the last three months, Pioneer Natural underperformed the Zacks categorized Oil & Gas-U.S Exploration & Production industry. During the aforesaid period, the company’s shares lost 1.6% compared with almost 5.4% improvement for the broader industry.
Zacks Rank
Pioneer Natural Resources currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other well-ranked stocks in the energy sector include Imperial Oil Limited (IMO - Free Report) , Northern Oil and Gas Inc. (NOG - Free Report) and Denbury Resources Inc. . Both Imperial Oil and Denbury Resources sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while Northern Oil and Gas carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
In 2017, Imperial Oil’s earnings are anticipated to grow 386.6%.
Northern Oil and Gas posted an average earnings surprise of 81.35% in the last four quarters.
Denbury surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters with an average earnings surprise of 283.33%.
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In this latest Special Report, Zacks’ Aggressive Growth Strategist Brian Bolan explores a full-blown technological breakthrough in the making – autonomous cars. He also spotlights 8 stocks with tremendous gain potential to feed off this phenomenon. Click to see the stocks right now >>