Take the long view

Article Excerpt

ENCANA CORP. $21 (Toronto symbol ECA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 736.3 million; Market cap: $15.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 3.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.encana.com) is down 29% since the start of 2011. The company is partly a victim of its own success. Encana was an early pioneer in the development of unconventional gas reserves such as shale gas, which is natural gas that is trapped in rock formations. New technologies that Encana helped develop have cut the cost of extracting shale gas, which has let other companies expand their own shale gas production. This has greatly added to the supply of natural gas, and pushed down gas prices. However, like most commodities, gas prices are inherently volatile. In particular, one cold winter could quickly push up prices. Longer-term, the outlook for gas remains bright. A growing gap between gas and oil prices could prompt more transportation companies to convert more of their trucks and trains to run on…