DENVER (AP) _ QEP Resources Inc. (QEP) on Wednesday reported a third-quarter loss of $49.2 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.

On a per-share basis, the Denver-based company said it had a loss of 20 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were 13 cents per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was breakeven on a per-share basis.

The independent oil and gas company posted revenue of $177.8 million in the period, which fell short of Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $230.4 million.

In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, the company's shares hit 87 cents. A year ago, they were trading at $3.59.

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

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