Magnolia Oil & Gas Corporation(MGY) reported a third-quarter 2024 net profit of 52 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 48 cents. This outperformance can be attributed to a healthy increase in production volumes. However, the bottom line deteriorated from the year-ago quarter’s 54 cents, due to a 21.9% increase in operating expenses year over year.
The oil and gas exploration and production company’s total revenues were $333.1 million, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $331 million. The top line increased 5.5% from $315.7 million recorded in the year-ago period due to higher-than-expected revenues from oil. The total oil revenues reached $266 million, surpassing the consensus estimate of $259 million.
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In the quarter under review, the company recorded $217.9 million in net cash from operating activities and achieved a free cash flow of $126.1 million. Magnolia’s operating income was 39% of revenues.
On Oct. 28, 2024, South Texas-focused Magnolia declared a cash dividend of 13 cents per share of Class A common stock and a cash distribution of 13 cents per share of Class B unit, payable on Dec. 2, to its shareholders of record as of Nov. 8.
Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp Quote
In the third quarter, the company repurchased 2.5 million shares of its Class A and Class B common stock for $61.7 million. Magnolia still has 3.9 million Class A common shares available under its current repurchase authorization, which are designated for open market buybacks.
In the third quarter, MGY returned about $87.8 million to its shareholders—representing 70% of the company’s free cash flow—through a mix of share repurchases and dividends.
MGY’s Production & Prices
The average daily total output of 90,702 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) increased from the year-ago quarter’s 82,651 boe/d. However, the figure missed our estimate of 91,000 boe/d. Oil and gas production increased 10.2% year over year.
Oil volumes totaled 38,902 barrels per day (bpd), up 18.4% from the year-ago quarter’s level. The figure exceeded our estimate of 37,200 bpd. Natural gas volumes reached 159,170 thousand cubic feet per day (Mcf/d), up 1.7% from the third quarter of 2023. The figure missed our expectations of 173,600 Mcf/d. The average realized crude oil price was $74.23 per barrel, indicating a 7.9% decrease from the year-ago period’s $80.56. The figure also missed our expectations of $75.21 per barrel.
The average realized natural gas liquids price was $19.46 per barrel, implying a 5.8% decrease from the year-ago period’s figure. However, natural gas prices decreased 19.1% year over year to $1.52 per thousand cubic feet. MGY recorded an average sales price of $39.92 per boe compared with $41.52 a year ago.
MGY’s Balance Sheet & Capital Expenditure
As of Sept. 30, Magnolia had cash and cash equivalents of $276.1 million and long-term debt of $394.8 million. The total debt-to-total capital was 16.8%.
The company spent $103.1 million on its capital program in the reported quarter. Operating expenses increased to $204.1 million from $167.5 million in the year-ago period.
MGY’s Guidance
Magnolia plans to maintain two drilling rigs and one completion crew as part of its operational strategy. The company has made improvements in well costs and overall spending efficiencies, allowing for spare capacity within its capital budget. As a result, Magnolia will drill an additional four well pads in Giddings during the fourth quarter, which were not included in the original 2024 capital and activity plans. This new pad is expected to be drilled but uncompleted by year end, with anticipated completion in the first half of 2025, providing additional operational flexibility moving into next year.
Taking into account some delayed activity alongside the new four-well pad, MGY expects its fourth quarter drilling and completion capital to be $125 million. This would bring the total capital spending for the year to approximately $470 million, placing it in the middle of the 2024 capital budget range of $450 to $480 million. This modest increase in activity should enhance Magnolia's overall capital efficiency and flexibility in 2025.
For the fourth quarter, MGY’s total production volumes are projected to be about 93 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (Mboe/d), indicating a high single-digit year-over-year production increase for 2024, with oil production growth expected to exceed that rate.
The company anticipates oil price differentials to be around a $3 per barrel discount to Magellan East Houston. Magnolia remains fully unhedged for all of its oil and natural gas production. For the fourth quarter of 2024, the fully diluted share count is expected to be approximately 197 million, reflecting a decrease of about 5% compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.
MGY currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Important Energy Earnings So Far
While it is early in the earnings season, there have been a few key energy releases so far. Let us glance through a couple of them.
Liberty Energy LBRT, the Denver-CO-based oil and gas equipment company, announced an adjusted net income of 45 cents per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 55 cents. This was primarily due to poor equipment and services execution and lower activity in the reported quarter. Additionally, the bottom line declined from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure of 86 cents due to a year-over-year increase in costs and expenses.
Ahead of the earnings release, LBRT’s board of directors announced a dividend of 8 cents per common share payable on Dec. 20, to its stockholders of record as of Dec. 6. This dividend represents a 14% increase from the prior regular quarterly dividend of 7 cents per share. In the quarter, Liberty returned $51 million to its shareholders through a combination of share repurchases and cash dividends.
Energy infrastructure provider, Kinder Morgan, Inc. KMI reported third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 25 cents, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 27 cents. The bottom line was flat year over year. The weakness in quarterly results was caused by lower contributions from the Products Pipelines and CO2 business segments.
KMI also announced a quarterly cash dividend of 28.75 cents per share for the third quarter of 2024 (annualized dividend of $1.15), implying a 2% increase from the third-quarter 2023 level. The dividend is payable on Nov. 15, 2024, to its shareholders of record as of Oct. 31.
Schlumberger Limited SLB, a Houston, TX-based oil and gas equipment and services provider announced third-quarter earnings of 89 cents per share (excluding charges and credits), which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 88 cents. The bottom line also increased from the year-ago quarter’s 78 cents. The strong quarterly earnings were primarily driven by broad-based earnings growth and margin expansion, especially in the Middle East, Asia and offshore North America. Additionally, cost optimization, greater adoption of digital solutions and contributions from long-cycle deepwater and gas projects played significant roles.
SLB reported a free cash flow of $1.81 billion in the third quarter. As of Sept. 30, the company had approximately $4.46 billion in cash and short-term investments. At the end of the quarter, it registered a long-term debt of $11.86 billion.
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