Analyst’s Keeping an Eye on Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE:NFX)

Analysts are weighing in on how Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE:NFX), might perform in the near term. Wall Street analysts have a  assessment of the stock, with a mean rating of 2.0. The stock is rated as buy by 22 analysts, with 7 outperform and 6 hold rating. The rating score is on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 stands for strong buy and 5 stands for strong sell.

For the current quarter, the 31.00 analysts offering adjusted EPS forecast have a consensus estimate of $0.05 a share, which would compare with $0.46 in the same quarter last year. They have a high estimate of $0.24 and a low estimate of $-0.19. Revenue for the period is expected to total nearly $367.07M from $469.00M the year-ago period.

For the full year, 30.00 Wall Street analysts forecast this company would deliver earnings of 0.27 per share, with a high estimate of $0.93 and a low estimate of $-0.46. It had reported earnings per share of $1.02 in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Revenue for the period is expected to total nearly $1.43B versus 1.56B in the preceding year.

The analysts project the company to maintain annual growth of around 20.69% percent over the next five years as compared to an average growth rate of 8.97% percent expected for its competitors in the same industry.

Among the 32 analysts Data provided by Thomson/First Call tracks, the 12-month average price target for NFX is $43.48 but some analysts are projecting the price to go as high as $56.00. If the optimistic analysts are correct, that represents a 36 percent upside potential from the recent closing price of $41.27. Some sell-side analysts, particularly the bearish ones, have called for $28.00 price targets on shares of Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE:NFX).

In the last reported results, the company reported earnings of $0.46 per share, while analysts were calling for share earnings of $0.20. It was an earnings surprise of 130.00%percent. In the matter of earnings surprises, the term Cockroach Effect is often implied. Cockroach Effect is a market theory that suggests that when a company reveals bad news to the public, there may be many more related negative events that have yet to be revealed. In the case of earnings surprises, if a company is suggesting a negative earnings surprise it means there are more to come.

Newfield Exploration Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. Its principal areas of operation include the Anadarko and Arkoma basins of Oklahoma, the Williston Basin of North Dakota, the Uinta Basin of Utah, and the Maverick and Gulf Coast basins of Texas. The company also holds offshore oil developments in China. As of December 31, 2015, it had proved reserves of approximately 509 million barrels of oil equivalent. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.