Pioneer Natural Resources

They sold their interest in Eagle Ford shale back in June. This is from Merril's 10/16 report on them:

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PXD will a nnounce 3 Q15 earnings on November 2 nd with a call the following day at 1 2 :00 AM ET. For the quarter, we are modeling EPS of ( $0. 24) which is below consensus of ( $0 . 06 ) and production of 205 Mboe /d , which is at the low end of guidance (205 - 210 Mboe /d ) . Note reported earnings will include a onetime tax of 45 - $50 million associated with the sale of the Eagle Ford midstream assets. Key things to watch are :

• Update on Northern Midland rig activity. PXD had previously announce d that it plans to add two rigs per month through the remainder of 2015 depending on commodity prices starting in July . To date, it has added six rigs. However, given commodity weakness , we will be listening for management ’ s thoughts to remainder of the year. Our expectation is that it may likely dial back activity.

• Status update on Northern Midland optimization program. PXD is testing bigger fracs, reduced cluster spacing and more perforations on i ts northern acreage. La st quarter, it reported that it was pleased with its first seven well result s. However, before implementing these techniques to the rest of its acreage position , it wanted t o collect and observe more data. Given this, we will be looking for a status update on the call.

Pioneer remains our top growth pick amongst the large - cap US oils. With the leading position in the Midland side of the Permian basin, management has secure d its growth outlook through a robust hedging program and pending proceeds from the second half of an infrastructure sale in the Eagleford. However, as with other oily names, the most si gnificant catalyst going forward would be an improvement in the commod ity price.

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