Posts for Ticker ‘WNR’

Western Refining Raising $300 Million Cash (WNR)

Money Stack ImageWestern Refining, Inc. (NYSE: WNR) has announced its intent to sell 14 million shares of common stock.  This would bring in gross proceeds of nearly $196 million at current prices.  The company also plans to sell approximately $100 million in convertible senior notes due in 2014.
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Posted on: June 1, 2009 – 1:03 pm in Oil & Gas, Secondary Offering,

Refiner Shows Profit, E&P and Services Don’t (WNR, DVN, FWLT)

refinery-imageThree companies representing three distinct areas of the oil business have reported earnings and the surprise to many will be that the refiner put up the best numbers. Western Refining Inc. (NYSE:WNR) reported EPS of $0.86, way up from a net loss of $-0.60 in the same period a year ago, and above a consensus estimate of $0.84. Revenues did not keep pace though. Western’s sales came in at $1.37 billion, compared with $2.55 billion a year ago, and consensus estimates of $2.96 billion.
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Posted on: May 6, 2009 – 8:02 am in Earnings, Oil & Gas, , ,

Refiners and Oil Prices, Conundrum and Quagmire (VLO, MRO, TSO, WNR, XOM, CVX)

There has been a never-ending battle between rapidly changing energy prices and the effect on margins at refineries.  Since the beginning of the year, the best-performing crude oil refiner has been Western Refining Inc. (NYSE:WNR).  With a market cap of $885 million, it is also the smallest of the large refiners among competitors Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE:VLO), Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE:MRO), Tesoro Corp. (NYSE:TSO), and Frontier Oil Corp. (NYSE:FTO).

Western’s share price has risen more than 60% since January, while the best the others can do is around 20%, with Valero actually dropping by nearly 10%. Valero’s purchase of the assets of failed ethanol maker VeraSun did not boost its shares. As if anyone really expected that to happen.

The increase in the refiners’ share prices has almost everything to do with the rise in crude oil prices. Or does it? Rising crude prices, provided they don’t rise too high too fast, usually benefit refiners that can market their refined products at higher prices and generally higher margins.

However, in today’s slow economy, demand for gasoline has been dropping steadily, forcing refiners to turn to distillates and other refined products in a search for profits. For a while, European demand for diesel fuel kept the party going, but that demand has now cooled.  Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) has joined in the ranks of companies looking for reduced demand in oil ahead.

For a look into what may be in store for refiners, let’s ponder what Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX) had to say about refining in its interim update for the first quarter of 2009. Barrels/day of crude processed is flat with the fourth quarter of 2008, but up about 4% compared with the first quarter of 2008. Chevron’s refining margins rose on the US West Coast, but fell on the Gulf Coast.

Chevron’s marketing margins in the US were down substantially. In the fourth quarter of 2008, margins on the West Coast were at $9.11/barrel. In the first two months of the first quarter of 2009, the margin was $0.01/barrel, and the expecteded margin for the full first quarter is just $0.83/barrel. The Houston margin for Eastern gasoline is down nearly 40%.

Western’s gross refining margins for all of 2008 were about $4/barrel less than in 2007, and the first quarter of any year is typically a low-profit quarter for refining and marketing. Marathon’s refining margins for the 2008 fourth quarter were about 75% lower than the previous quarter. And while crude prices did gain some during the first quarter of this year, the prices are not substantially better than they were in December 2008.

Reduced gasoline consumption in the US, seasonal declines, and likely hits to marketing margins could lead to a tough first quarter for refiners.  The real debate may be on whether this dilemma is a quarterly issue or a much longer-term issue.

Paul Ausick
April 13, 2009

Posted on: April 13, 2009 – 10:02 am in Oil & Gas, , , , , ,

When Refineries Lose Money (WNR)

Western Refining Inc. (NYSE:WNR) reported a quarterly EPS loss of -$0.19, just half as much as its -$0.38 EPS loss in the fourth quarter of 2007. Excluding a one-time inventory write-down, the company’s EPS for the fourth quarter of 2008 was $0.49, above analysts’ estimates of $0.41. Revenue fell from $2.42 billion in the year-ago quarter to $1.66 billion, well below expectations of $2.16 billion.
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Posted on: March 6, 2009 – 9:24 am in Earnings, Oil & Gas,

Frontier Oil, Refiner Earnings Lagging Peers (FTO, SUN, WNR, VLO)

Oil_refinery_image_2Frontier Oil (NYSE:FTO) released its third quarter earnings yesterday, and the news was not good. EPS was $0.70, down from $1.28 a year ago, and below analysts’ estimates of $0.73. Revenues rose to $2.2 billion, up 58% from a year ago.

Unlike Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) or Western Refining (NYSE:WNR), Frontier didnot say anything about trying to sell any assets. Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) appears to have recently signaled that the worst is behind too.

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Posted on: November 7, 2008 – 8:52 am in Earnings, Oil & Gas, , , ,

Refiners Getting Well, But For How Long? (SUN, WNR)

Oil_refinery_image_2Crude oil refiners Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) and Western Refining (NYSE:WNR) reported earnings this morning before the market opened.  Sunoco posted diluted EPS of $4.70 on revenues $16.109 billion. Western reported diluted EPS of $1.61 on revenues of $3.165 billion. Analysts had estimated Sunoco’s EPS at $0.81 on revenues of $12.55 billion and Western’s EPS at $1.21. There are no estimates on Western’s third quarter revenues, but in the year-ago quarter, revenues reached $2.23 billion.

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Posted on: November 6, 2008 – 9:44 am in Earnings, Oil & Gas, ,

Energy Watch Part II: Refining Woes Remain (WNR, ALJ, DK, TSO, VLO, XOM, CVX, COP)

Refinery_pic_3It’s no secret the oil refining margins have been dropping like a rock for the past few quarters. When pump prices began to approach a US-wide average of about $4/gallon, US drivers started changing their habits.The latest numbers indicate miles driven dropped by 12.2 billion miles, almost 5%, in June. That translates into millions of gallons of gasoline that were either not refined or were not sold. This decrease has hit refiners hard.

The award for largest drop in value goes to Western Refining (NYSE:WNR), down nearly 84% from a 52-week high of $55.72 to close yesterday at $9.23. Next on the list are two refiners that are majority-owned by Isreali parents: Alon USA Energy Inc (NYSE:ALJ) fell by almost 72%, from a high of $41.25 to $10.49; and Delek US Holdings (NYSE:DK) dropped by 69%, from $28.34 to $8.64. Tesoro (NYSE:TSO) fell by 64%, from $65.98 to $18.43, and Valero (NYSE:VLO) fell by nearly 50%, from $75.75 to $34.79.

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Posted on: August 14, 2008 – 8:29 am in Oil & Gas, , , , , , , ,

Good News Gets Scarce in the Energy Business (WNR, WMB, SRE)

Oil_gas_pipeline_picThere’s no good news coming from Western Refining (NYSE:WNR) today. The company reported second quarter earnings of $8.2 million (EPS of $0.12) versus $155 million and EPS of $2.29 for the same period a year ago. The culprit, of course, is lower refining margins. Analysts expected EPS of $0.28, so Western achieved a clear miss.

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Posted on: August 7, 2008 – 9:46 am in Oil & Gas, , ,

The 52-Week Low Club (NR)(KBR)(MTW)(TIE)(CHIC)(SIRI)(CIEN)

Sad_clown_2Western Refining (WNR) Snag at one of the company’s units and falling oil prices gang up. Drops to $6.47 from 52-week high of $58.95.

KBR (KBR) Rough earnings numbers. Down to $22.94 from 52-week high of $45.24.

The Manitowoc Company (MTW) Sells a unit and that could hurt earnings. Sell off to $23 from 52-week high of $51.49.

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Posted on: August 4, 2008 – 2:52 pm in HI/LOW, , , , , , ,

What Happens To Oil Prices When Refiners Stop Producing? (VLO, WNR, TSO)

As we’ve pointed out earlier, oil refining is not the business to be in these days. Refiners have been hit hard by skyrocketing crude oil prices because they are unable to pass along those price increases to consumers. Because they generally have no E&P division, they are forced to purchase crude at the ever-increasing spot price, whereas integrated oil companies can take advantage of long-term supply contracts from their E&P divisions to help moderate the price that their refining and marketing divisions have to pay.

How bad are things? Today, Western Refining (NYSE:WNR) announced that it had abandoned all covenants on its credit facilities for the quarter just ended. The covenants will be reinstated at the end of the third quarter, with no change to the amounts available under the credit facilities. However, Western has agreed to eliminate quarterly dividends on common stock through the end of 2009, and has added a new revolving credit facility for $75 million to the $800 million in revolving credit that it already has. In early trading, the stock is down about $0.25, more than 80% off its 52-week high.

The story is unfortunately no better for Valero (NYSE:VLO) or Tesoro (NYSE:TSO). Tesoro is off about $0.45, just a buck above its 52-week low, and down about 70% from its 52-week high. Valero is off $0.78 for the day, off almost 50% from its 52-week high and near its 52-week low set in May.

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Posted on: July 1, 2008 – 11:28 am in Oil & Gas, , ,

Oil Gushing Again (XOM, COP, RIG, APA, OMNI, NR, WNR, ALJ)

Yesterday, the energy sector gained 1.69%, as money flowed into ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM), up 2.63%; ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), up 3.07%, Transocean (NYSE:RIG), up 3.21%; and Apache (NYSE:APA), up 6.04%. Other big gainers were oilfield services companies, with OMNI (NASDAQ:OMNI) up 11.52% and Newpark (NYSE:NR) setting a new 52-week high.

Refiners fared worse, with Western Refining (NYSE:WNR) off 11.22% for the day and Alon (NYSE:ALJ) off 6.53%.  In light of last Friday’s huge jump in crude oil, this all makes some sense. The oil majors and the E&P companies are getting their reserves factored in at the new prices. New exploration and drilling is bumping up the services companies. Refiners, who can’t raise prices fast enough to offset the costs of crude, are falling.

Many analysts think last week’s spike in crude prices was the result ofshort covering, abetted by the strengthening dollar. That may accountfor the uptick in companies with E&P plays, but what about servicescompanies? Yesterday’s surge indicates that traders are pricing newoperations into the companies’ stocks. But, if demand for crude isdropping, and according to the IEA, the latest projections for the restof 2008 indicate a global drop of 70,000 b/d, then it iscounter-intuitive that drilling will increase.

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Posted on: June 10, 2008 – 8:19 am in Oil & Gas, , , , , , , ,

52-Week Low Club (GY, GSAT, LIOX, NCC, PLA, SWWC, WNR)

Today didn’t look like the normal 52-week low brigade.  Usually there is a massive implosion of some sort that took a stock under.  Most of these were just more selling trends on news that has already been out.  Here are today’s featured lows:

  • GenCorp Inc. (NYSE: GY) wasn’t under its 52-week low in the last hour today, but hit $8.23 vs. an $8.28 prior. Aerospace & Defense and Real Estate. Bad combo.
  • Globalstar (NASDAQ: GSAT) got back above its prior $3.08 low over the last 52-weeks, but this one just seems to keep getting worse.
  • Lionbridge Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: LIOX) was down at $2.66, under the $2.70 to $6.29 range.  It looks like the lion’s roar is is a meow, at best.
  • National Citiy Corp (NYSE: NCC) was down over 4% at $5.55, under the $5.76 to $35.86 range.
  • Playboy (NYSE: PLA) going from bad to worse, and still not a cheap stock.  Down another 7% at $6.00 late in the day with a $6.38 to $12.00 52-week range.  If this keeps up Heff might have to turn in that mansion, and his activities too.
  • Southwest Water (NASDAQ: SWWC) managed to get back above the 52-week lows of $10.52 today, but water (and water utilities) is supposed to be one of those safe sectors.
  • Western Refining (NYSE: WNR) merely hit its prior low of $7.81 today.  But this stock was at $66.00 over the last year.

Jon C. Ogg
May 16, 2008

Posted on: May 16, 2008 – 2:15 pm in HI/LOW, , , , , , ,

The 52-Week Low Club (IMB)(WNR)(VVTV)(URRE)

IndyMac Bancorp (IMB) Broker report says company needs more capital. Falls to $2.15 from 52-week high of $37.50.

Western Refining (WNR)  Bad earnings and broker downgrade. Drops to $7.81 from 52-week high of $66.13.

ValueVision International (VVTV) Revenue down from last year. Sells off to $4.14 from 52-week high of $12.19.

Uranium Resources (URRE) Earnings wreck. Trades down to $4.44 from 52-week high of $14.99.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: May 13, 2008 – 3:03 pm in HI/LOW, , , ,

Are Refining Stocks Safer After Valero? (VLO, TSO, FTO, WNR, HOC)

Valero Corp. (NYSE: VLO) shares are trading up almost 10% after the company posted earnings.  Valero has been what seems like habitually hampered with higher refining costs more than it has been a beneficiary of higher sell-through prices from high oil costs.  With shares trading up 9.5%to $60.10 and a 52-week trading range of $47.40 to $78.68, its shares are still down over 23% from year highs.  The company has retired nearly 120 million shares of stock since the end of 2005.

Valero’s operating income was barely half of last years Q4 report at $567 million versus $1.1 Billion, while the EPS report was $1.02 EPS versus $1.74 last year.  The prior year included a $196 million pre-tax gain on sale, otherwise the net would have compared to $954 million from operations and $1.53 EPS.  While they were down, these earnings were significantly above Wall Street expectations as First Call had a $0.64 EPS target for the quarter.  Revenues for the quarter were $28.66 Billion, up from $18.8 Billion in Q4 2007.

Some of our more pure-play stocks in refining are also up considerably today.  As you can see some are still considerably off of their highs:

  • Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO) shares are up some 7% at $41.10 today.  With a 52-week trading range of $34.00 to $65.98, its shares are still down more than 33% from the highs.
  • Frontier Oil (NYSE: FTO) shares are up some 13% after Goldman Sachs added it to the Conviction Buy list.  With shares up 13.6% to $36.47 and a 52-week trading range of $26.71 to $49.13, its shares are still down over 25% from yearly highs.
  • Western Refining (NYSE: WNR) shares are trading up after shares were upgraded from underperform to Neutral at Credit Suisse on Monday.  With shares up 10% to $22.30 and a 52-week trading rang, of $16.70 to $66.30, this stock is still down over 60% from its 52-week highs.
  • Holly Corp. (NYSE: HOC) was also raised Monday from underperform to Neutral at Credit Suisse.  With shares up 6.4% to $49.40 and a 52-week trading range of $39.36 to $80.88, its shares are still down 38% from yearly highs.

Valero noted that refined product margins were lower because the cost of crude oil and other feedstocks increased more than product prices.  Margins for many of the company’s secondary products, such as asphalt, fuel oils, and petrochemical feedstocks, were also lower on raw materials and feedstock prices.  Valero also noted that margins for some of our secondary products, such as asphalt, fuel oils, and petrochemical feedstocks, are still weak.  But its continues to see wide discounts to WTI for the sour and heavy crude oils and other feedstocks that make up more than 60 percent of our throughput volumes. Valero also expects diesel margins to remain strong since inventories are well below the levels.

So it isn’t as though the pure-play refiners can count the all-clear sign being given.  But Wall Street was expecting much worse, and sometimes "things just not being as bad" is double-plus good.

Jon C. Ogg
January 29, 2008

Posted on: January 29, 2008 – 2:02 pm in Earnings, Oil & Gas, , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (CS, DB, UBS, ASML, IFX, PHG, ETFC, FCEL, MHK, PLUG, TMX, VLO, WNR)

These are not teh only impact analyst calls today impacting stocks, but these are the key calls that 24/7 Wall St. is focusing on.  This isn’t exactly 10 if you look at the bullet points, but that is because some of the research calls are multi-stock calls:

  • BEAR STEARNS Downgrades key European investment banking names: Credit Suisse (CS) and Deutsche Bank (DB) both downgraded to Underperform from Peer Perform ratings; UBS AG downgraded from Outperform to Peer Perform rating.
  • EU CHIP & TECH: ASML Holdings (ASML), Infineon (IFX), and Royal Philips Electronics (PHG) all started as Buy at UBS.
  • E*Trade (ETFC) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets; Credit Suisse cut its price target to $4.00; Goldman Sachs cautions that a takeover is unlikely near-term..
  • Fuel Cell (FCEL) started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
  • Plug Power (PLUG) started as Underweight at JPMorgan.
  • Telmex (TMX) raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Valero (VLO) & Western Refining (WNR) were both raised to Buy at Banc of America.  Mohawk (MHK) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Banc of America.

Jon C. Ogg
November 30, 2007

Posted on: November 30, 2007 – 9:06 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , , ,