Recovering from the previous day's sell-off, midstream companies outperformed other energy equities and broader markets on Friday, March 16. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the trading day 0.29% higher at 24,946.51, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.17% to end at 2,752.01.
Pioneer Natural Resources Co. rose 1.66% on light volume to settle at $169.34. Analysts applauded the company's recent sale of a portion of its Eagle Ford Shale assets. Williams Capital Group analyst Gabriele Sorbara said the $106 million Pioneer is expected to obtain as a result of the Sundance deal tops estimates.
CNX Midstream Partners LP's ambitious growth forecast and its potential to acquire more assets from CNX Resources Corporation have impressed equity analysts and investors. During a March 13 presentation, the master limited partnership's executives convinced some equity analysts that CNX Midstream can compete effectively in the Utica and Marcellus shales.
CNX Midstream Partners saw an increase of 4.47% to close at $19.86, while CNX Resources gained 1.51% to finish at $15.50, both in brisk trading.
Among other notable market movers in the midstream sector, NGL Energy Partners LP spiked 8.45% on below-average trading to finish at $11.55, Noble Midstream Partners LP was up 4.93% on strong volume to close at $49.37, and Plains GP Holdings LP settled 3.76% higher in active trading to $22.64.
Reversing the trend, EV Energy Partners LP's stock price dropped 3.15% on heavy volume to close at 15.98 cents. Moody's downgraded EV Energy Partners LP after the partnership struck a restructuring support agreement with some of its noteholders and lenders.
Caught by lingering cold ahead of a warmup into spring, April natural gas traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange was little changed on the session Friday, ending 0.7 cent higher at $2.688/MMBtu.
Market prices and index values are current as of the time of publication and are subject to change.
