Asset sales to fuel growth for these producers

Article Excerpt

ENERPLUS CORP. $9.05 (Toronto symbol ERF; Shares outstanding: 240.5 million; Market cap: $2.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; Dividend yield: 1.3%) produces oil and gas from properties in Western Canada—Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C.—as well as North Dakota and Montana in the western U.S. The company also has properties in the Marcellus Shale. That rock formation runs through Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia. Enerplus’s output fell by 12.8% in the three months ended June 30, 2016, to an average of 93,659 barrels of oil equivalent per day (53% gas and 47% oil) from 107,429 a year earlier. The decline in production came after the company sold some of its non-core properties to pay down its debt. That drop, plus lower oil and gas prices, pushed cash flow per share down sharply in the quarter, to $0.29 from $0.67 a year earlier. On June 30, 2016, long-term debt stood at $694.7 million, or 30.2% of the stock’s market cap. That is down from $1.2…