Heres Why Pioneer Natural Resources Stock Slipped 15.7% in 2014

For Pioneer Natural Resources investors, 2014 was a tale of two half-years. Robust oil prices and strong production growth pushed Pioneer's stock higher by well over 25% through the first half of the year. However, as the following chart shows,when the price of oil rolled over during the second half of the year, it took Pioneer Natural Resources' stock down with it.

PXD data by YCharts.

Pioneer's stock ended the year down 15.7% as the price of oil crashed nearly 44%. That said, things could have been far worse -- many other oil stocks fell as much as, if not more than, the price of oil. Here's why Pioneer Natural Resources' stockholders didn't encounter that same fate.

Refining the machinePioneer Natural Resources began 2014 with a plan to growproduction by 14%-19%. That was a rather wide range, but the company wanted to be conservative as it was still fairly early in drilling horizontal wells into the Permian Basin. However, by the end of the second quarter the company was growingbetter at drilling new wells, so it tightened its production growth guidance range to 16%-19%. Pioneer alsobeat second-quarterearnings estimates and noted that it was seeing strong production from new wells, which was pushing up the estimated ultimate recovery of future wells.

For thethird quarter, Pioneer Natural Resources again beat earnings estimates and again narrowed its production growth guidance. This time the company put its production growth guidance at 18%-19% while also estimating it would increase output by 16%-21% through 2016. However, it was during the third quarter that oil prices began a steady decline that does not yet appear to havebottomed. This development has raised questions about Pioneer's growthpotential, as the company is unlikely to have the money to grow as fast as its previous guidance indicates.

Photo credit: Courtesy of Pioneer Natural Resources, Sands Weems-Photographer.

Being proactiveReacting quickly to the drop in oil prices, the company shored up its balance sheet by raising $1billion in equity capital shortly after its third-quarter report. On top of that, Pioneer announced that it wouldsell its interest in an Eagle Ford shale midstream business, a move that could eventually net it upward of $1.2 billion more. Even more recently, the company shored up an unexpected weakness in its hedging program by locking in the price for 85% of its oil production for 2015.

Pioneer Natural Resources is making sure it can survive the worst of the current downturn in the oil market so that it can thrive once the situation improves. This has kept its stock from sinking too far, even though it is quite pricey when compared to its peers and its own historical valuation.

Investor takeawayOperationally, Pioneer Natural Resources had a fine year in 2014 as it exceeded earnings expectations thanks to strong oil production. However, the crashing price of oil knocked a lot of the enthusiasm out of the stock. Nonetheless, the company is to be commended for positioning itself to survive the current downturn so that it can thrive whenever the market turns around.

The article Heres Why Pioneer Natural Resources Stock Slipped 15.7% in 2014 originally appeared on Fool.com.

Matt DiLallo has no position in any stocks mentioned, which is a relief because the only stock mentioned was down 15% last year. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.