HOUSTON (AP) _ Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) on Wednesday reported a loss of $1.21 billion in its fourth quarter.

The Houston-based company said it had a loss of $2.52 per share. Losses, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 5 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 9 cents per share.

The oil and gas company posted revenue of $1.17 billion in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Eight analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.1 billion.

For the year, the company reported that its loss widened to $1.51 billion, or $3.16 per share. Revenue was reported as $4.44 billion.

Noble shares have fallen 20% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed nearly 4%. The stock has declined 5% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on NBL at https://www.zacks.com/ap/NBL

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News