Oil & Gas Stock Roundup: Pioneer, Cheniere & Devon's Q3

It was a week where oil prices fell into bear territory, while natural gas futures hit nearly two-year highs.

On the news front, energy biggies Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE:PXD) , Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) and Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE:DVN) reported third-quarter earnings.

Overall, it was a mixed week for the sector. While West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 4.7% to close at $60.19 per barrel, natural gas prices gained around 13% to $3.719 per million Btu (MMBtu).

The U.S. crude benchmark entered bear market territory – a decline of 20% below a recent high.

The U.S. crude benchmark tumbled to an eight-month low on Friday, reflecting rising supply from major producers and fear that an economic slowdown will dampen the outlook for demand. U.S. waivers on Iranian sanctions and data showing drillers in the United States adding oil rigs also contributed to the losses, while the dollar strength played spoilsport by making the greenback-priced crude dearer for investors holding foreign currency.

Meanwhile, natural gas prices reached their highest point since December 2016 as inventories remain significantly below their five-year average amid predictions strong demand with the early onset of cold weather.

Recap of the Week’s Most Important Stories

1. Pioneer Natural Resources reported third-quarter 2018 earnings of $2.07 per share, excluding one-time items, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.69 and the year-ago quarter figure of 48 cents. Higher production volumes of liquids and natural gas as well as increased oil equivalent price realizations supported the strong third-quarter results.

Total production in the reported quarter averaged 320.7 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBOE/d), which improved 16.3% year over year and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 318 MBOE/d. The upside can be attributed to the Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company’s higher activities in the Permian Basin.

You can see Petrobras Q3 Earnings Jump on Oil Surge, Output Falls )

Price Performance

The following table shows the price movement of some the major oil and gas players over the past week and during the last 6 months.

Company	Last Week	Last 6 Months
XOM	-0.3%	-2.4%
CVX	+4.2%	-10%
COP	-1.6%	-7.1%
OXY	+7.7%	-15%
SLB	-1.9%	Get The News You Want Read market moving news with a personalized feed of stocks you care about. Get The App -30.9%
RIG	-3.3%	-27%
VLO	-4.6%	-25.8%
MPC	-3.3%	-15.9%

Bucking the week’s negative oil market sentiment, the Energy Select Sector SPDR – a popular way to track energy companies – generated a +1.4% return last week. The best performer was Houston-based energy explorer Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:OXY) whose stock jumped 7.7%.

Longer-term, over six months, the sector tracker is down 13.2%. Oilfield service biggie Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) was the major loser during this period, experiencing a 30.9% price decline.

What’s Next in the Energy World?

With the 2018 Q3 earnings season essentially over, market participants will get back to closely tracking the regular releases i.e. the U.S. government statistics on oil and natural gas – one of the few solid indicators that comes out regularly. Energy traders will also be focusing on the Baker Hughes data on rig count and monthly reports from OPEC and the IEA.

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Written By: Zacks Investment Research