HollyFrontier Beats on Revs, Misses EPS (HFC)

Refiner HollyFrontier Corp. (NYSE: HFC) reported fourth quarter and full year earnings this morning, and the results are mixed. The company posted quarterly EPS of $1.06, compared with a consensus estimate of $1.20. Revenues totaled $5 billion, sharply higher than the consensus estimate of $4.3 billion.

For the full year, EPS totaled $6.42, slightly off the consensus estimate of $6.46, and revenues totaled $15.4 billion versus an estimate of $15.6 billion.

HollyFrontier benefited from an average differential of $18.33/barrel at its Rocky Mountain refineries and differentials of $14.71/barrel and $14.76/barrel at its Midwest and Southwest refineries, respectively. The differential represents the difference between the price of imported Brent crude to HollyFrontier’s domestic supply. The company’s margins nearly doubled to $15.32/barrel compared with the fourth quarter of 2010.

Investors aren’t altogether pleased, however, and the shares are down -0.42% in the pre-market this morning, at $33.05 in a 52-week range of $21.13-$38.90.