PDC Energy, Inc.

NasdaqGS:PDCE Stock Report

Market Cap: US$6.4b

This company has been acquired

The company may no longer be operating, as it has been acquired. Find out why through their latest events.

PDC Energy Past Earnings Performance

Past criteria checks 5/6

PDC Energy has been growing earnings at an average annual rate of 66.7%, while the Oil and Gas industry saw earnings growing at 25.5% annually. Revenues have been growing at an average rate of 30.2% per year. PDC Energy's return on equity is 41.8%, and it has net margins of 52.3%.

Key information

66.73%

Earnings growth rate

65.97%

EPS growth rate

Oil and Gas Industry Growth33.67%
Revenue growth rate30.17%
Return on equity41.84%
Net Margin52.31%
Last Earnings Update30 Jun 2023

Recent past performance updates

Recent updates

Seeking Alpha • Sep 10

PDC Energy: Variable Dividend Might Exceed $2 Per Share

Summary PDC is projected to generate over $900 million in positive cash flow during the second half of 2022. This would allow it to do continued share repurchases and fund a variable dividend that should be $2+ per share. PDC also received permits for 99 Colorado wells and is awaiting a hearing that could give it permits for another 450 wells. PDC Energy (PDCE) looks capable of generating over $900 million in positive cash flow during the second half of 2022. This is expected to help fund continued share repurchases as well as a variable dividend (related to 2022 results) that should be $2+ per share. PDC's estimated value is around $73 to $79 per share in a long-term $70 WTI oil and $4.00 NYMEX gas scenario. It is progressing well in terms of getting Colorado permits, which I've previously noted as a significant potential catalyst. The hearing for its Guanella Comprehensive Area Plan (which could add several years to its permitted inventory) is currently scheduled for December. Colorado Permits PDC has made substantial progress with its Colorado permitting situation. It received unanimous approval for its Broe and Kenosha development plans in June, which gave it permits for 99 wells. It also received a completeness determination on its Guanella Comprehensive Area Plan in early August. This moves the process along to the technical review phase and a 60-day public comment period. The tentative hearing date before the oil and gas commission is set for December 7. PDC's Permits (pdce.com) Getting the Guanella CAP approved would be a major boost for PDC, as that would add approximately 450 locations and give it permitted inventory that should last past 2028 at current activity rates. 2H 2022 Outlook PDC now expects its 2H 2022 production to average 250,000 BOEPD including 82,000 barrels of oil per day. At current strip prices (including roughly $90 WTI oil and $8 NYMEX gas), PDC is projected to generate $2.461 billion in oil and gas revenues before hedges during the second half of the year. PDC's 2H 2022 hedges have around negative $502 million in estimated value. Barrels/Mcf $ Per Barrel/Mcf (Realized) $ Million Oil (Barrels) 15,088,000 $89.00 $1,343 NGLs (Barrels) 13,292,160 $30.00 $399 Natural Gas [MCF] 105,719,040 $6.80 $719 Hedge Value -$502 Total Revenue $1,959 PDC has an estimated $1.027 billion in cash expenditures for the second half of 2022, including $540 million for capex. This leads to a projection that it can generate $932 million in positive cash flow in the second half of 2022 at $90 WTI oil. $ Million Lease Operating Expense $152 Transportation, Gathering and Processing $64 Production Taxes $177 Cash G&A $60 Cash Interest $34 Capital Expenditures $540 Total Expenses $1,027 PDC may also pay out $67 million in dividends during the second half of 2022 at its current quarterly dividend rate of $0.35 per share. Net Debt And Share Count PDC had $1.658 billion in net debt at the end of Q2 2022, so it is projected to reduce its net debt to $793 million by the end of 2022 based on current strip prices. This does not include the effect of further share repurchases or variable dividend payments. PDC has estimated that it will spend $400 million on share repurchases in the second half of 2022, while it would also have another $185 million to allocate towards a variable dividend to reach its target of a 60+% return (of free cash flow less base dividends) to shareholders. PDC's Expected 2022 Results (pdce.com)
Seeking Alpha • Aug 25

PDC Energy declares $0.35 dividend

PDC Energy (NASDAQ:PDCE) declares $0.35/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.04% Payable Sept. 22; for shareholders of record Sept. 8; ex-div Sept. 7. See PDCE Dividend Scorecard, Yield Chart, & Dividend Growth.
Seeking Alpha • Jul 11

PDC Energy Remains Resistant To Monetary Policy

Fully closed acquisition of Great Western Petroleum leads to $1.7 billion in FCF and repurchasing programs with raising dividends for shareholders. Recent announcement of its third OGDP approval in the last 12 months shows that management is committed to investing in the future. Ranks well amongst competitors and has high rates of dividend and return on equity in comparable companies anaylsis. Federal Reserve’s policy is not enough to offset enough demand to meet the low supply of oil. Introduction Year to date, PDC Energy (PDCE) rose by 21.26% whereas broader markets and index funds have declined by over 13%. Price Changes (Yahoo Finance) I believe that PDCE is only seeing the beginning of its growth tailwinds, especially with catalysts such as long-term high oil prices being comparable to the times after the 2008 stock market crash. Additionally, this stock is recovering nicely from the pandemic. Its forward 5-year average EBITDA growth multiples are 99.46% above its sector median of 24.49%, suggesting above-average growth. I believe that there are a multitude of positive signs that investors are overlooking, such as the recent Great Western Petroleum acquisition leading to more capital return to shareholders and an increased likelihood of rapid approval of development plans for oil drilling sites in the near future. Let’s take a closer look at the primary drivers for my assumptions on a bullish outlook. Company Activity The company has now fully closed on the acquisition of Great Western Petroleum and with that shareholder returns are coming back. This acquisition leads to immediate growth in both material inventory and financial values. PDC Energy has a tremendous amount of FCF on hand and leadership appears confident in their business prospects. Here is a good quote from President and Chief Executive Officer Bart Brookman’s recent announcement on the future of the company: We are excited to roll out our updated 2022 budget, which not only delivers top tier FCF generation of $1.7 billion each of the next two years, but also allows us outstanding shareholder returns of at least $1 billion annually. In the face of significant inflation, our operating teams have done a tremendous job innovating, driving additional efficiencies, and ensuring our capital budget remains at or below $1 billion. As we streamline our operations, the Great Western acquisition provides the Company with additional scale and high value inventory with increased shareholder returns. The primary bullish signal presented here is the increased return of excess capital back to shareholders given that PDC optimistically is expecting to generate $1.7 billion in FCF for the next 2 years. This is great news and shows that PDC Energy is taking a step in the right direction to sustain and grow profits over time. More specifically, the detailed framework of shareholder returns is provided here by management: ..at least 60% of FCF after base dividends will be returned to shareholders in the form of share repurchases and, if necessary, a year end special dividend. The Company has a $1.25 billion Board authorized share repurchase plan that it expects to fully utilize by the end of 2023. On May 26th, the Company’s’ board of directors approved a raised base quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share. The second quarter dividend is payable on June 23, 2022 to stockholders of record at the close of business on June 9, 2022. Based on our current estimated FCF and assuming we reach our annual $625 million share buyback goal, we anticipate that our year end special dividend could exceed $300 million. The implementation of repurchasing programs and increasing dividend rates shows that the Board of Directors is well aware of the current undervaluation of the PDCE and is committed to increasing shareholder value for investors. Such actions will further supplement PDCE as a great investment for income-seeking investors as the company already is in the top 75% of US-listed companies for dividends. The company has reported strong EPS (EPS of $5.07) which is more than enough to cover the annual dividend per share of $1.34. This is fantastic news for investors. PDCE dividend stability and growth (WallStreetZen) More Oil & Gas Development Plan Success Another reason why I am optimistic about PDCE is due to the major catalyst involving government regulations. PDC Energy recently announced on June 29 its third approval —Broe— in the last 12 months regarding their Oil and Gas Development Plan (OGDP) to permit 30 more drilling sites in rural Weld County, Colorado. In total, PDC Energy is rapidly expanding their arsenal of drilling sites to capitalize on the rising demand for oil/gas prices. Their recent news release gives us a better picture on this: Combined with the previously announced Kenosha OGDP approval earlier this month, the Company has added 99 new wells to its inventory in June and will soon have over 675 permits and drilled and uncompleted wells (“DUCs”) The rapid adoption and execution of the company’s OGDP shows that management is committed to investing in the future and is doing a good job of increasing their drilling footprint across the nation. With regards to what the future entails, I think that oil prices will still remain high for consumers and even rise. Since demand growth is outpacing supply growth, the oil market is likely to remain undersupplied. PDC Energy clearly has picked up on this and that these investments will help to increase the company’s operations and profits down the line.
Seeking Alpha • May 17

PDC Energy: May Be Able To Reduce Share Count By Over 15% In 2022

PDC Energy is now projected to generate close to $2 billion in positive cash flow in 2022 at current strip. This would give it the ability to put $1.1 billion towards share repurchases and special dividends. At its current share price, PDC could repurchase over 15% of its outstanding shares with that amount.

Revenue & Expenses Breakdown

How PDC Energy makes and spends money. Based on latest reported earnings, on an LTM basis.

Earnings and Revenue History

NasdaqGS:PDCE Revenue, expenses and earnings (USD Millions)
DateRevenueEarningsG+A ExpensesR&D Expenses
30 Jun 233,5381,8511840
31 Mar 233,9342,2241770
31 Dec 223,9981,7781690
30 Sep 223,8641,9011440
30 Jun 223,4171,2491250
31 Mar 222,7764991120
31 Dec 212,3925221110
30 Sep 211,933431290
30 Jun 211,576-1341300
31 Mar 211,234-2681300
31 Dec 201,100-7241620
30 Sep 201,091-7391300
30 Jun 201,086-6921380
31 Mar 201,240-4021520
31 Dec 191,238-571660
30 Sep 191,2891431800
30 Jun 191,3421241890
31 Mar 191,328-1051810
31 Dec 181,31321770
30 Sep 181,207-991640
30 Jun 181,076-3881860
31 Mar 18960-1871790
31 Dec 17865-1281680
30 Sep 17774-2611540
30 Jun 1769981160
31 Mar 17622-1281090
31 Dec 16477-2461050
30 Sep 16457-1871080
30 Jun 16415-205960
31 Mar 16398-157930
31 Dec 15392-68910
30 Sep 1535713590
30 Jun 15389108970
31 Mar 15447126950
31 Dec 14546107930
30 Sep 14573381150
30 Jun 14535-30730
31 Mar 1447018690
31 Dec 13395-21700
30 Sep 13362-56790
30 Jun 13331-70780
31 Mar 13303-69800
31 Dec 12278-19730
30 Sep 12302-15650

Quality Earnings: PDCE has high quality earnings.

Growing Profit Margin: PDCE's current net profit margins (52.3%) are higher than last year (36.5%).

Free Cash Flow vs Earnings Analysis

Past Earnings Growth Analysis

Earnings Trend: PDCE has become profitable over the past 5 years, growing earnings by 66.7% per year.

Accelerating Growth: PDCE's earnings growth over the past year (48.2%) is below its 5-year average (66.7% per year).

Earnings vs Industry: PDCE earnings growth over the past year (48.2%) exceeded the Oil and Gas industry 45.5%.

Return on Equity

High ROE: PDCE's Return on Equity (41.8%) is considered outstanding.

Return on Assets

Return on Capital Employed

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Company Analysis and Financial Data Status

DataLast Updated (UTC time)
Company Analysis2023/08/08 04:01
End of Day Share Price 2023/08/04 00:00
Earnings2023/06/30
Annual Earnings2022/12/31

Data Sources

The data used in our company analysis is from S&P Global Market Intelligence LLC. The following data is used in our analysis model to generate this report. Data is normalised which can introduce a delay from the source being available.

PackageDataTimeframeExample US Source *
Company Financials10 years
  • Income statement
  • Cash flow statement
  • Balance sheet
Analyst Consensus Estimates+3 years
  • Forecast financials
  • Analyst price targets
Market Prices30 years
  • Stock prices
  • Dividends, Splits and Actions
Ownership10 years
  • Top shareholders
  • Insider trading
Management10 years
  • Leadership team
  • Board of directors
Key Developments10 years
  • Company announcements

* Example for US securities, for non-US equivalent regulatory forms and sources are used.

Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more.

Analysis Model and Snowflake

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Industry and Sector Metrics

Our industry and section metrics are calculated every 6 hours by Simply Wall St, details of our process are available on Github.

Analyst Sources

PDC Energy, Inc. is covered by 28 analysts. 4 of those analysts submitted the estimates of revenue or earnings used as inputs to our report. Analysts submissions are updated throughout the day.

AnalystInstitution
Randy OllenbergerBMO Capital Markets Equity Research
John AbbottBofA Global Research
No AnalystBofA Global Research