Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) Settles Lawsuit With Dimock Families

Domestic energy explorer Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE:COG) finally settled a lawsuit filed by two families in Dimock, Pennsylvania. Cabot Oil & Gas was accused of contaminating groundwater in the Pennsylvania town.

Cabot Oil & Gas ramped up drilling activities in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale in 2008. In 2009, 15 Dimock families moved court against the company claiming that the drilling operations were responsible for polluting drinking water. However, all the residents made an out-of-court settlement except the families of Ely and Hubert.

In March 2016, a jury of 10 issued a ruling holding the company guilty of groundwater contamination. The jury directed the company to pay $2.75 million to Elys and $1.49 million to Huberts. However, in March 2017, the U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin C. Carlson, overruled the jury’s $4.2 million award for the Dimock plaintiffs on account of weakness and irregularities in their testimony and arguments as well as missteps by their attorney. Carlson also turned down Cabot Oil & Gas’s request to pass a judgment in favor of the company and ordered a fresh trial.

Post this, plaintiffs planned to appeal to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Meanwhile, Cabot Oil & Gas maintained that their drilling operations were safe and did not add methane to the wells.

However, the oil and gas producer and the Dimock families have finally managed to reach a settlement, though the terms of the settlement remain undisclosed. This brings the decade long controversy to a close.

Cabot Oil & Gas, based in Houston, TX, is an independent oil and gas exploration company with producing properties mainly in the continental United States. The company presently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Shares of Cabot Oil & Gas have rallied 15% year to date as against 23% decline of its industry.

Some better-ranked players in the same industry are Lonestar Resources, Ltd. (NASDAQ:LONE) , Viper Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ:VNOM) and Bill Barrett Corporation (NYSE:BBG) . While Lonestar Resources and Viper Energy sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Bill Barrett carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Lonestar Resources is expected to achieve year-over-year growth of 60.20% and 79.67% in its sales and earnings in 2017.

Viper Energy reported positive earnings surprise in each of the last four quarters, the average being 18.36%.

Bill Barrett delivered average positive earnings surprise of 12.74% in the trailing four quarters.

Will You Make a Fortune on the Shift to Electric Cars?

Here's another stock idea to consider. Much like petroleum 150 years ago, lithium power may soon shake the world, creating millionaires and reshaping geo-politics. Soon electric vehicles (EVs) may be cheaper than gas guzzlers. Some are already reaching 265 miles on a single charge.

With battery prices plummeting and charging stations set to multiply, one company stands out as the #1 stock to buy according to Zacks research.

It's not the one you think.

See This Ticker Free >>