Yahoo Finance How Has Noble Energy’s Stock Fared over the Last Year?
Noble Energy's 1Q16 Earnings: What Do Analysts Expect?
Noble Energy’s stock performance
Noble Energy’s (NBL) stock was mostly in a falling trend in 2015. However, at the start of 2016, its stock started to rally, although it remains quite lower than last year’s levels. On a YoY (year-over-year) basis, NBL has fallen ~27%. Natural gas prices have fallen ~13% YoY.
In comparison, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE), the broader industry ETF, has fallen 18% YoY.
NBL’s peers EQT Corporation (EQT), Antero Resources (AR), and Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) have fallen 19%, ~31%, and 30%, respectively, on a YoY basis. COG, NBL, and EQT make up 4% of XLE.
NBL’s debt refinancing
On January 6, 2016, NBL announced a series of transactions including a new three-year term loan and cash tender offers for its 5.88% senior notes due in 2024, 5.88% senior notes due in 2022, and 5.63% senior notes due in 2021.
Kenneth Fisher, NBL’s executive vice president and CFO, commented, “These transactions create significant value for Noble Energy, improving profitability through annual interest savings of up to $50 million and substantially enhancing our deleveraging flexibility. We ended 2015 with $5 billion in liquidity and are committed to continuing a disciplined capital program.”
NBL’s hedges
Many upstream companies including NBL have hedged their production volumes in 2016 to protect themselves against volatile energy prices. For 2016, NBL has hedged 38% of its forecast oil volumes and 26% of US natural gas volumes.
In the next part of this series, we’ll look at analysts’ recommendations for NBL ahead of 1Q16 earnings.
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