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Thursday's Energy Stocks: Markets retreat as Trump plans higher tariffs

U.S. equities fell on Thursday, March 1, following President Donald Trump's announcement that his administration would impose 25% tariffs on steel and 10% on aluminum imports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 1.68% to end the day at 24,608.98, while the S&P 500 declined 1.33% to finish at 2,677.67.

Several power producers reported their fourth-quarter 2017 earnings, including Pattern Energy Group Inc., which shed 8.24% to close at $17.04; NRG Energy Inc., which rose 4.10% to settle at $26.92; NRG Yield Inc., which climbed 5.01% to finish at $16.15; and Ormat Technologies Inc., which retreated 7.88% to end at $57.65, all in robust trading.

Pattern Energy reported adjusted EBITDA of $98.9 million, surpassing the S&P Capital IQ consensus estimate for fourth quarter 2017 of $92.7 million.

NRG Energy booked adjusted EBITDA of $497 million, missing the S&P Capital IQ consensus estimate for adjusted EBITDA of $621.7 million. The company will sell its Boston Energy Trading subsidiary to Diamond Generating Corp. for an unknown amount.

NRG Yield's adjusted EBITDA of $204 million dropped from $214 million in the comparable 2016 quarter due to lower wind production.

Ormat posted adjusted EBITDA of $87.4 million, 13.6% higher compared to $76.9 million in the corresponding quarter of 2016. However, the company delayed filing its annual report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Ormat's CEO said the company plans to report "a material weakness" related to the impacts of the recent U.S. tax reform.

Itron Inc. shares spiked 6.14% on strong volume to finish at $74.30, after reporting non-GAAP net income attributable to the company of $39.8 million, or $1.01 per share, beating the S&P Capital IQ normalized consensus EPS estimate of 93 cents.

AltaGas Ltd. retreated 7.83% in brisk trading to settle at C$24.35, after recording normalized EBITDA of C$213 million, which is lower than the S&P Capital IQ consensus estimate for fourth-quarter of C$214.4 million. AltaGas expects regulators to issue some of the final decisions on its US$6.63 billion purchase of WGL Holdings Inc. within months. WGL dipped 1.06% on brisk volume to close at $82.38.

Shares of QEP Resources Inc. jumped 10.79% on heavy volume to end at $9.55, after detailing strategies to focus on shifting to a pure-play Permian Basin company in 2018. The company plans to allocate about 65% of its $1.08 billion 2018 capital investment plan to Permian Basin development.

Natural Resource Partners LP was up 8.38% in active trading to finish at $31.05, after reporting net income of $30.7 million, or $1.26 per unit, beating the S&P Capital IQ consensus normalized earnings estimate for the fourth quarter of $1.03. The partnership's fourth-quarter results are primarily driven by declining utility stockpiles and export demand for both thermal and metallurgical coal.

April natural gas futures advanced Thursday, as weather-related demand and a storage withdrawal slightly above outlooks and well above the year-ago level inspired short-covering gains. The contract settled 3.1 cents higher at $2.698/MMBtu.

Market prices and index values are current as of the time of publication and are subject to change.