When it comes to oil stocks, stick with quality

Article Excerpt

Oil prices have moved up from January 2016 lows. However, they are likely to remain volatile for the next year or two due to the slow-growing global economy and uncertainty over OPEC production cuts. We still like the long-term prospects of our two oil stocks—Chevron and Apache—but see only one as a buy for right now. CHEVRON CORP. $111 (New York symbol CVX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.9 billion; Market cap: $210.9 billion; Price-tosales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 3.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.chevron.com) is the second-largest integrated oil company in the U.S. by revenue, after ExxonMobil (New York symbol XOM). The company produced 1.0% less oil and gas in the third quarter of 2016 compared to a year earlier. That dip, along with lower oil and gas prices, cut Chevron’s revenue by 12.2%, to $30.1 billion from $34.3 billion. Earnings declined 37.0%, to $1.3 billion, or $0.68 a share, from $2.0 billion, or $1.09. In response to low oil…