Calgary, Alberta-based oil and gas explorer Encana Corporation ECA announced that it expects to exceed 2017 production and profit margin forecasts discussed on its Investor Day in Oct 2016.
The company reported that it is expecting to register a corporate margin of greater than $10 per barrel of oil equivalent (BOE) in 2017. That's 25% higher than the $8 per barrel margin anticipated earlier. Per the company, this projection is a result of anticipated lower costs through the year and increased total volumes expected in the second half of 2017.
Additionally, Encana expects to record year-over-year production growth from its core four assets of at least 15–20% from the fourth quarter of 2016 to the fourth quarter of 2017.
For 2018, Encana expects to grow its corporate margin to $13 per BOE. Also, it expects to increase production from its core four assets by over 30% from the fourth quarter of 2017 to the fourth quarter of 2018. The company expects to provide more detail on Feb 16, when it issues its fourth-quarter and year-end results.
Encana is a focused pure-play natural gas exploration and production company. It is the second largest gas producer in North America with land and resources in a number of the region's promising shale and tight gas resource plays.
Over the past year, the Zacks categorized Oil and Gas-Exploration and Production-Canadian industry has registered growth of 63.6%. However, shares of Encana have outperformed the industry by registering growth of 161.6%.
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The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), implying that it will perform in line with the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.
Some better-ranked players from the broader energy sector include Braskem S.A. BAK , Suncor Energy SUand CONE Midstream Partners LP CNNX. All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
In the last four quarters, Braskem posted an average positive earnings surprise of 105.5%.
Suncor delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 40.55% in the last four quarters.
In the last four quarters, CONE Midstream Partners posted an average positive earnings surprise of 14.68%.
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