National Fuel Gas (NFG) To Post Q1 Earnings: What To Expect

National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) is scheduled to release first-quarter fiscal 2020 earnings on Jan 31. This natural gas distribution company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 1.89% in the last reported quarter.

Factors to Consider

National Fuel Gas’ first-quarter fiscal 2020 earnings are likely to have benefited from ongoing cost-management initiatives and long-term firm transportation commitments.

The company expects production to decline moderately on a sequential basis due to new pads brought online during the quarter.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for total gas production for the to-be-reported quarter is 56,486 million cubic feet (MMcf), indicating an increase from the year-ago reported figure of 49,239 MMcf.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter fiscal 2020 earnings per share and total revenues is pegged at 96 cents and $525 million, respectively.

What Our Quantitative Model Predicts

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for National Fuel Gas this time around. A stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP (which represents the difference between the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate), and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) to surpass estimates. That is not the case here as you will see below.

Earnings ESP: The company’s Earnings ESP is -0.18%.

You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Currently, National Fuel Gas carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Stocks to Consider

Here are some companies from the same sector that have the right combination of elements to deliver a positive earnings surprise in the upcoming releases:

PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) is slated to release fourth-quarter 2019 earnings on Feb 13. It has an Earnings ESP of +0.31% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR) is set to release first-quarter fiscal 2020 earnings on Feb 5. It has an Earnings ESP of +1.09% and a Zacks Rank #2.

CenterPoint Energy Inc. (NYSE:CNP) is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2019 earnings on Feb 27. It has an Earnings ESP of +1.09% and a Zacks Rank #3.

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