Yahoo Finance National Fuel Gas (NFG) Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, Sales Lag
National Fuel Gas Company NFG posted fourth-quarter fiscal 2021 adjusted operating earnings of 95 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 78 cents by 21.8%. Earnings also improved 137.5% from the year-ago figure of 40 cents per share.
GAAP earnings for the reported quarter were 95 cents per share compared with $1.60 in the year-ago period.
For fiscal 2021, the company’s operating earnings were $4.29 per share, up 46.9% year over year.
Total Revenues
Total revenues of $356 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $430 million by 17.3%.
The top line, however, improved 23.6% from the prior-year figure of $288 million. The year-over-year rise was primarily due to higher contributions from the company’s exploration and production, pipeline and storage, and gathering segments.
National Fuel Gas Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
National Fuel Gas Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | National Fuel Gas Company Quote
Highlights of the Release
Total operating expenses for the reported quarter decreased 51.6% from the year-ago level to $223.7 million.
The Exploration and Production segment’s net production of 79.6 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe) reflected an increase of 12.3 Bcfe or 18% from the prior year.
For the reported quarter, the average realized price of natural gas was $2.37 per thousand cubic feet, up 45 cents from the previous year. Average realized price of oil was $60.04 per barrel, up $4.34 from the prior-year level.
The company incurred interest expenses of $30.1 million, down 6.5% from the year-ago figure.
Financial Highlights
As of Sep 30, 2021, National Fuel Gas had cash and temporary cash investments of $31.5 million compared with $20.5 million in the corresponding period of 2020.
Long-term debt (excluding current maturities) was $2,628.7 million as of Sep 30, 2021 compared with the Sep 30, 2020 level of $2,629.6 million.
The company’s net cash provided by operating activities for fiscal 2021 was $791.5 million, up from $740.8 million recorded in the year-ago period.
Total capital expenditure for fiscal 2021 was $751.8 million, up from $716.2 million in the year-ago period.
Guidance
National Fuel Gas revised its fiscal 2022 earnings guidance to the range of $5.05-$5.45 from the prior expectation of $4.40-$4.80. The mid-point of the new guidance is $5.25, lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the metric of $5.45. The new guidance takes into consideration the expected increase in natural gas prices in fiscal 2022.
National Fuel Gas reiterated its fiscal 2022 capex guidance in the range of $640-$760 million.
National Fuel Gas reiterated its fiscal 2022 production view in the range of 335-365 Bcfe.
Zacks Rank
Currently, National Fuel Gas sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Other Releases
Sempra Energy’s SRE third-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $1.70, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
ONE Gas Inc. OGS reported third-quarter 2021 earnings of 38 cents per share, on par with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
MDU Resources Group Inc. MDU reported third-quarter 2021 operating earnings of 68 cents per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 79 cents by 13.9%.
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