Energy Stocks: Energy stocks off, Occidental gains after earnings

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) � Energy stocks fell Thursday, with better-than-expected earnings breathing some life into Occidental Petroleum Corp. and Consol Energy Inc., among others.

Shares of Occidental OXY �rose 3.5% as the company reported a fourth-quarter earnings decline that beat Wall Street expectations on stronger volumes, sharply lower expenses and higher profit in its chemical business.

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Excluding a one-off charge, Occidental�s earnings were $1.83 a share on revenue of $6.17 billion. Analyst expectations had hovered at $1.66 a share on revenue of $5.85 billion. Read: Occidental's earnings fall on write-down.

Shares rallied more than 10% in the past three months, and declined about 12% in the past year.

�We expect shares to continue to outperform on the heels of this report,� analysts at Sterne Agee wrote in a report to clients. Occidental�s board is slated to meet in mid-February, and there is �good chance� the board will approve a dividend increase to 62 cents or 65 cents a share from the current 54 cents, implying a 3% yield, they said.

Shares of coal miner Consol CNX �advanced 0.6%. Consol profit fell on lower production, but the miner also surpassed analysts� expectations. It reported a fourth-quarter profit of $149.9 million, or 65 cents a share, down from $195.6 million or 85 cents a share a year earlier. Revenue dropped 9.9% to $1.39 billion.

Analysts expected income of 24 cents a share on $1.29 billion in revenue. Read: Consol profit down on lower coal volume.

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ConocoPhillips COP �shares declined 5.1%, one of the heaviest losses among energy stocks on the S&P 500 Index SPX . ConocoPhillips late Wednesday reported a decline in earnings and missed analysts� expectations.

The Houston-based company said profits reached $1.43 billion, or $1.16 a share, down from $3.39 billion or $2.56 a share a year earlier. Adjusted earnings fell to $1.43 a share from $1.55 a share on lower commodity prices, according to the company.

Analysts had expected adjusted earnings of $1.42 on revenue of $13.31 billion. ConocoPhillips earnings fall on lower oil and gas prices.

ConocoPhillips rivals Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM �and Chevron Corp. CVX �turned lower, and ended the day down 0.8% and 0.7%, respectively. Both companies are slated to report fourth-quarter results Friday.

U.S.-listed shares of Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A �retreated 3%. Shell on Thursday reported a rise in fourth-quarter profits.

The Anglo-Dutch company said it would increase capital expenditure this year to find and develop more resources and rejoin the world�s top oil and gas producers by 2018.

Shell said it expected $33 billion of net capital investment this year, up 10% from 2012, with a large portion of that going to high-risk, costly ventures to grow production in areas such as the Arctic and Kazakhstan.

Shares of Hess Corp. HES �fell 1.1% following steep gains earlier this week, on news it was planning to sell its New Jersey refinery and as hedge fund Elliott Management called for a company reorganization and board shake-up.

Analysts at Soci�t� G�n�rale, Tudor Pickering Holt and UBS downgraded Hess stock to neutral from buy following the rally, which had taken the stock to gains around 30% so far this year.

Cameron International Corp. CAM �shares rose 4%. The oil-field services company reported a profit of $218.3 million, or 88 cents a share, up from $99.9 million or 40 cents a share a year earlier. Revenue rose 19% to $2.43 billion. See: Cameron International net doubles.

Cameron also forecast earnings of 70 cents to 75 cents a share in the first quarter and 2013 earnings of $3.70 to $3.95 a share. Analysts peg first-quarter earnings at 84 cents per share and 2013 earnings at $4.04 per share.

The company is trading at lower multiples than peers and its own historic average, analysts at UBS wrote in a note. �Despite the lowered earnings guidance for 2013, we continue to like the stock. We are impressed with the strong order rate and believe 2013 should be another strong order year, which will begin to translate into earnings in 2014,� they said.

The SPDR Energy Select Sector XLE , an exchange-traded fund covering energy names, declined 0.4%. Crude futures CLH3 �were off 0.5% at $97.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.