Northern Oil & Gas stock rises after 4Q earnings beat Street on record production

Northern Oil & Gas Inc (NYSEAMERICAN:NOG) stock climbed Tuesday after it reported fourth-quarter earnings that handily beat Wall Street expectations on surging revenue from record production.

For the quarter ended December 2018, the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based company posted earnings of $0.25 per share on revenue of $443.2 million. The consensus earnings estimate was for $0.14 per share on revenue of $159.3 million. Revenue grew more than ten-fold on a year-over-year basis.   

Northern Oil & Gas stock shot up 5.2% to $2.33 in morning trade.

READ: Mistras Group beats Street’s 4Q revenue forecast but misses on earnings, shows margin improvement

The company is engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas properties, mainly in the Bakken and Three Forks formations within the petroleum-rich Williston Basin, in the US.

A combination of production and revenue gains and lower costs drove the significant improvement in the fourth quarter. Northern has targeted specific areas in the Williston Basin that offer the highest rates of return on oil drilling projects.

“The fourth quarter of 2018 was the culmination of a truly transformational year for Northern and further testimony to the effectiveness of our non-operator model,” said  Northern Oil & Gas CEO Brandon Elliot. “We generated solid, sustainable cash flow from operations and record production. Our success was driven by our team’s ability to efficiently execute on, and in many cases, exceed, our stated business goals for the year.”

Elliott said that with an interest in over 5,000 wells across its 157,000-acre position in the Williston Basin, Northern was positioned to build on “strong momentum” in 2019.

“We will be patient and prudent as we continue to evaluate opportunities to grow through our “ground game” and other, larger acquisitions, all while not compromising on these objectives,” said Elliot.

Contact Uttara Choudhury at [email protected]

Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive 

Story by ProactiveInvestors