Enbridge Energy (EEP) Q3 Earnings And Revenues Miss

Oil and natural gas transporter Enbridge Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE:EEP) reported third-quarter 2016 adjusted earnings of 9 cents per unit, which came in below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 19 cents. The bottom line also declined from the year-earlier level of 23 cents.

Total revenue in the quarter fell to $1,120.6 million from the year-ago level of $1,267.7 million and also lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,150 million.

Segment Performance

Liquids: Adjusted operating income in the Liquids segment increased to $304 million from $295.1 million in the comparable period of 2015. The upside was driven by higher transportation rates attributable to new assets placed into service related to the Mainline Expansion project as well as higher overall system deliveries. This was partially offset by increased operating and administrative expenses over the same period in the prior year due to new assets placed into service.

Natural Gas: The Natural Gas unit reported adjusted loss of $11.4 million that compared unfavourably with an operating income of $9.9 million in the year-ago quarter. The decrease mainlyy stemmed from lower natural gas prices and NGL system production volumes. Lower system volumes were primarily attributable to the still low commodity price environment for hydrocarbons. The decrease was partially offset by lower operating and administrative expenses from due to the cost-reduction measures undertaken.

Distribution

Enbridge declared a quarterly cash distribution of 58.3 cents per unit, or $2.332 per unit on an annualized basis, for the quarter ended Jun 30, 2016. The approved distribution remains unchanged from the previous quarter. The distribution is payable on Nov 14, to unitholders on record at the close of business on Nov 7.

Zacks Rank

Enbridge Energy currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Some better-ranked players in the energy sector are Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) , Braskem SA (NYSE:BAK) and EQT Midstream Partners (NYSE:EQM) . Each of these stocks sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Enbridge Energy Partners has a posted negative earnings surprise of 10.00% in the year-ago quarter.

Braskem SA posted a positive earnings surprise of 105.45% in the year-ago quarter.

In the last reported quarter, EQT Midstream Partners delivered a positive earnings surprise of 6.72%. Coming to the earnings surprise history, the partnership beat estimates in three of the last four quarters.

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