BONAVISTA ENERGY $16.63 - Toronto symbol BNP

BONAVISTA ENERGY $16.63 (Toronto symbol BNP; Shares outstanding: 189.3 million; Market cap: $3.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 5.1%; www.bonavistaenergy.com) explores for oil and natural gas in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Its production is 65% gas and 35% oil.

In the three months ended March 31, 2014, Bonavista’s cash flow per share gained 40.4%, to $0.80 from $0.57 a year earlier. Production rose just 2.2%, to 73,936 barrels of oil equivalent a day from 72,333. But its realized gas price jumped 55.5%, to an average of $5.07 per thousand cubic feet from $3.26, while oil prices rose 6.2%, to $79.68 a barrel from $75.05.

Bonavista plans to spend $580 million to $600 million on exploration and development in 2014. Its plans include drilling 130 to 135 wells, which will let it raise its average 2014 production as high as 77,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. For all of 2013, Bonavista spent $460 million to drill 126 wells.

The company’s shares yield a high 5.1%. Bonavista pays out just 35% of its cash flow as dividends.

The stock trades at 5.2 times Bonavista’s forecast 2014 cash flow of $3.21 a share. The company’s long-term debt of $1.0 billion is a reasonable 30.3% of its $3.3-billion market cap.

Bonavista Energy Corp. is a buy.

A professional investment analyst for more than 30 years, Pat has developed a stock-selection technique that has proven reliable in both bull and bear markets. His proprietary ValuVesting System™ focuses on stocks that provide exceptional quality at relatively low prices. Many savvy investors and industry leaders consider it the most powerful stock-picking method ever created.