Pembina Pipeline Corporation PBA reported fourth-quarter 2024 earnings per share of 66 cents, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 59 cents. The strong quarterly earnings were primarily driven by a strong delivery in the company’s facilities and marketing & new ventures segments. PBA’s facilities volume for the fourth quarter was 877 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (mboe/d), which beat the consensus mark of 860 mboe/d.

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However, the bottom line decreased from the year-ago quarter’s level of 89 cents due to decreased earnings in the pipelines segment caused by the reversal of a previous impairment related to the Nipisi Pipeline.

PBA’s Q4 Highlights

Quarterly revenues of $1.5 billion decreased about 15.4% year over year. The metric also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.8 billion.

Operating cash flow increased 2.5% to C$902 million. Adjusted EBITDA was a record C$1,254 million compared with C$1,033 million in the year-ago period. In the fourth quarter, PBA witnessed volumes of 4,016 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (mboe/d) compared with 3,752 mboe/d reported in the prior-year quarter.

Pembina declared a cash dividend of 69 Canadian cents per share for the first quarter of 2025, subject to applicable law, on March 31, 2025, to its shareholders of record as of March 17, 2025.

The Canada-based oil and gas storage and transportation company reported a strong financial position as of Dec. 31, 2024. The ratio of proportionately consolidated debt-to-adjusted EBITDA on a trailing twelve-month basis was 3.5. The figure was at the lower end of the company's targeted range, indicating contributions of three quarters from the Alliance/Aux Sable acquisition.

PBA’s Segmental Information

Pipelines: Earnings of C$534 million decreased about 21% from the year-ago quarter’s level. This decrease in earnings was driven by the reversal of a previous impairment related to the Nipisi Pipeline.

Volume increased about 5.2% year over year to 2,790 mboe/d. However, it missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 2825 mboe/d.

Facilities: Earnings of C$177 million increased from the year-ago quarter’s C$143 million, indicating a 24% increase over the prior year, driven by unrealized gains recognized by PGI on interest rate derivative financial instruments compared to unrealized losses in 2023.

Volumes of 877 mboe/d increased about 9.5% year over year and topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 860 mboe/d.

Marketing & New Ventures: Earnings of C$245 million increased from the year-ago quarter’s C$204 million, representing a 20% increase over the prior year, driven by unrealized gains on interest rate derivative financial instruments recognized by Cedar LNG.

Volumes of 349 mboe/d increased 16.7% year over year and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 24.2%, driven by greater blending opportunities fueled by favorable price differentials. Natural gas liquids (NGL) sales volumes totaled 252 mboe/d in the fourth quarter, implying a 16% increase compared with the year-ago quarter’s level. This growth was due to higher sales of ethane, propane and butane, which were supported by the increased ownership stake in Aux Sable.

PBA’s Capital Expenditure & Balance Sheet

Pembina spent C$242 million as capital expenditure in the quarter under review compared with C$177 million a year ago.

As of Dec. 31, 2024, PBA had cash and cash equivalents worth C$141 million and C$10.5 billion in long-term debt. Debt to capitalization was 37.6%.

2025 Guidance by PBA

For 2025, Pembina expects its adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of C$4.2-C$4.5 billion.

The company expects to maintain debt-to-adjusted EBITDA in the band of 3.3-3.6 times.

PBA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Important Energy Earnings in Q4

Some Midstream Service players that also reported their respective earnings are The Williams Companies, Inc. (WMB), Cheniere Energy, Inc. (LNG) and TC Energy Corporation (TRP).

The Williams Companies, Inc. WMB,the Oklahoma-based midstream energy services company, reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings per share of 47 cents, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 45 cents. The Northeast G&P and West segments delivered strong results, leading to the outperformance.

However, the bottom line decreased from the year-ago period’s level of 48 cents due to the weak year-over-year performance of the Gas & NGL Marketing Services and increasing expenses in the Transmission & Gulf of Mexico unit.

However, the company’s revenues of $2.7 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.9 billion. The figure also decreased from the year-ago quarter’s reported number of $2.8 billion. This underperformance was due to decreased service revenues on a year-over-year basis.

In the reported quarter, total costs and expenses of $2 billion increased almost 17.6% from the year-ago quarter’s figure.

Total capital expenditure (Capex) was $2.6 billion. As of Dec. 31, 2024, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $60 million and a long-term debt of $24.7 billion, with a debt-to-capitalization of 62.5%.

Houston, TX-based Cheniere Energy, Inc. LNG reported a fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted profit of $4.33 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.69. The outperformance can be attributed to strength in liquefied natural gas (‘LNG’) shipments. During the period, Cheniere Energy loaded 606 trillion British thermal units (TBtu) of LNG, ahead of the consensus mark of 582 TBtu.

However, the bottom line decreased from the year-ago quarter’s level of $5.76 per share. This was due to an increase in operating costs and expenses.

As of Dec. 31, 2024, Cheniere had approximately $2.6 billion of cash and cash equivalents. Its net long-term debt amounted to $22.6 billion, with a debt-to-capitalization of 69.2%.
 

Meanwhile, natural gas transmission company TC Energy Corporation TRP reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of 75 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 68 cents. This better-than-expected performance was driven by robust results from the company’s Mexico Natural Gas Pipelines, and Power and Energy Solutions segments.

However, the bottom line decreased from 99 cents reported in the year-ago period. This year-over-year decline can be attributed to weak results in the Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines and U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines segments.

This North American energy infrastructure provider's quarterly revenues of $2.6 billion outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $130 million. However, the figure decreased 17.8% year over year. TC Energy’s comparable EBITDA was C$2.6 billion, slightly down from C$2.7 billion in the previous year.

In addition, TRP’s board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of 85 Canadian cents per common share for the quarter ending March 31, 2025. This represents a 3.3% increase from the previous quarter and the dividend will be payable on March 31 to its shareholders of record as of March 14. This dividend increase followed the company’s proportional allocation post-spinoff, bringing the annualized dividend to C$3.40 per share.

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