CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $33 - Toronto symbol CVE

CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $33 (Toronto symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 755.6 million; Market cap: $24.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 2.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.cenovus.com) produced an average of 156,850 barrels of oil per day in the three months ended March 31, 2012. That’s up 14.2% from 137,355 barrels a day a year earlier.

The gain is mostly the result of Cenovus’s ongoing expansion of its Alberta oil sands properties. Production of conventional oil also rose 10.2%.

The company recently started shipping oil to Asia. That lets it sell this oil at international prices, which are higher than what it can get from North American refineries.

Rising Asian sales and production increases pushed up Cenovus’s earnings per share by 60.7% in the quarter, to $0.45 from $0.28. Cash flow per share rose 30.8%, to $1.19 from $0.91.

Cenovus is a buy.

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