Shares of Oasis Petroleum Inc. OAS have gone up 16.4% since the fourth-quarter 2021 earnings release on Feb 23.

The stock appreciation can be attributed to Oasis Petroleum’s better-than-expected fourth-quarter top line and a hike in dividend. The uptrend shown in share price was despite the fact that OAS’ bottom line lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Behind the Earnings Headlines

The Williston Basin-focused oil and gas producer, Oasis Petroleum, reported fourth-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings per share of $4.25, lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.36, improving from the quarter-ago profit of $3.16 due to higher price realizations. The underperformance can be attributed to much higher total operating expenses in the quarter.

Oasis Petroleum’s total operating revenues of $522 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $377 million. The top line also improved from the sequential quarter’s figure of $402 million. This can be attributed to higher commodity prices and the overall bullishness around the energy sector.

Among other encouraging metrics of OAS, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted free cash flow totaled $200.8 million and $148.5 million, respectively.

In some good news for investors, Oasis Petroleum announced that it will increase its base dividend by 17% to 58.5 cents ($2.34 per share annualized), and the amount was paid out on Mar 4, 2022 to shareholders of record as of Feb 21, 2022.

Production & Price Realizations

The total production (comprising 64.6% oil) jumped 32.8% from the quarter-ago level to 68.788 oil-equivalent barrels per day (MBOE/d). While the oil volume came in at 44.422 thousand barrels per day (up 39% from the last quarter), natural gas totaled 146.196 thousand cubic feet per day (up 22.4 % sequentially).

The average realized crude oil price during the fourth quarter was $76.37 per barrel, reflecting an 8.9% increase from the prior-quarter realization of $70.12. The average realized natural gas price was $7.93 per thousand cubic feet, increasing about 15% from the quarter-earlier period’s figure.

Oasis Petroleum Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Oasis Petroleum Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Oasis Petroleum Inc. Quote

Total Expenses

Total operating expenses in the quarter ascended to $281.8 million from the sequential quarter’s $223.5 million. This increase in expenses was mainly due to a rise in lease operating expenses, depreciation, purchased oil and gas expenses, which were up 28.2%, 81.3% and 21.4%, respectively, from the corresponding sequential quarter’s levels. OAS’ lease operating expenses also rose to $9.63 per barrel of oil equivalent (Boe) from the quarter-ago figure of $9.42 per Boe.

Financial Position