Yahoo Finance Pioneer (PXD) Tops on Q1 Earnings, Authorizes Share Buybacks
Pioneer Natural Resources Company PXD reported first-quarter 2023 earnings of $5.21 per share (excluding one-time items), beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.90. However, the bottom line declined from the year-ago quarter’s earnings of $7.74 per share.
Total quarterly revenues of $4,541 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5,299 million. The top line improved from the year-ago quarter’s $6,172 million.
Better-than-expected quarterly earnings were primarily driven by higher oil-equivalent production volumes. The positives were partially offset by lower realizations of commodity prices.
Pioneer Natural Resources Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Pioneer Natural Resources Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Pioneer Natural Resources Company Quote
Dividend Cut & Share Repurchase
For the first quarter, Pioneer announced a dividend payment of $3.34 per share of common stock, which includes a variable dividend of $2.09 per share and a base dividend of $1.25. This suggests a 40% decline from the last paid-out dividend of $5.58 per share. The new dividend is payable Jun 21, 2023, to its stockholders of record at the close of business on Jun 1, 2023.
PXD also authorized a new $4-billion share repurchase program, replacing the existing common stock repurchase program.
Production
For first-quarter 2023, the total production was 680.4 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBoe/d), up from the year-ago figure of 637.8 MBoe/d.
Oil production was 361.3 thousand barrels per day (MBbls/d), up from the year-ago quarter’s 355.3 MBbls/d. NGLs production was 167.5 MBbls/d compared with the prior-year quarter’s 152.9 MBbls/d. Natural gas production amounted to 909.8 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), up from the year-ago quarter’s 777.3 MMcf/d.
Price Realization
On an oil-equivalent basis, the average realized price was $51.69 per barrel for the reported quarter compared with $68.48 a year ago. The company reported an average realized crude price of $75.15 a barrel, down from $94.60 reported in the March-end quarter of 2022.
The average natural gas price declined to $3.79 per thousand cubic feet from $4.81 in the prior-year quarter. Natural gas liquids were sold at $27.30 a barrel, down from $41.37 a year ago.
Operating Costs
Pioneer’s expenses for oil and gas production were $455 million, up from $416 million in the year-ago quarter. Yet, total costs and expenses declined to $2,984 million in the first quarter from $3,611 million in the year-ago period.
Cash, Debt and Capex
As of Mar 31, 2023, Pioneer’s cash and cash equivalents totaled $1,192 million, while long-term debt was $5,094 million. It had a debt-to-capitalization of 21%.
In the March-end quarter, the company spent $1.2 billion.
Outlook
For 2023, Pioneer reiterated its oil production guidance of 357-372 thousand barrels of oil per day (MBo/d). The company projects a total production of 670-700 MBoe/d, indicating an increase from the 649.8 MBoe/d reported in 2022.
For the second quarter, Pioneer expects oil production of 357-372 MBo/d and a total production of 674-702 MBoe/d.
The company gave a drilling, completions, facilities and water infrastructure capital budget of $4.45-$4.75 billion for the year. Additionally, it gave a capital budget for exploration, environmental and other capital of $150-$200 million.
PXD boasted that the capital spending would be fully funded by its $9-billion projected cash flow for this year.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Pioneer currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Investors interested in the energy sector might look at the following companies that presently flaunt a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Sunoco LP SUN is scheduled to release first-quarter results on May 2. Valued at $4.5 billion, Sunoco has gained 8.3% in a year against the 3.4% decline of the composite stocks belonging to the industry.
Sunoco has an Earnings ESP of +5.66%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SUN’s earnings is pegged at $1.21 per share, suggesting a decline from the prior-year reported figure.
Cactus Inc. WHD is scheduled to release first-quarter results on May 9. Compared with composite stocks belonging to the industry, Cactus has significantly lower exposure to debt capital.
Cactus has an Earnings ESP of +1.79%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WHD’s earnings is pegged at 56 cents per share, suggesting an increase from the prior-year reported figure.
Marathon Petroleum Corporation MPC is scheduled to release first-quarter 2023 earnings on May 2. Valued at around $55 billion, the company has gained 41.1% in a year compared with 9.6% growth of the composite stocks belonging to the industry.
Marathon Petroleum has seen an upward revision in earnings estimates for 2023 in the past seven days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MPC’s earnings is pegged at $5.44 per share, suggesting an increase from the prior-year reported figure.
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Pioneer Natural Resources Company (PXD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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