Enerplus Resources Fund $26.42 – Toronto symbol ERF.UN

ENERPLUS RESOURCES FUND $26.42 (Toronto symbol ERF.UN; Shares outstanding: 165.3 million; Market cap: $4.4 billion; SI Rating: Speculative) is one of North America’s largest oil and gas trusts. Production is currently weighted 60% toward natural gas and 40% to oil. Enerplus continues to focus on building a well diversified portfolio balanced between low-risk, shorter- term assets that generate steady cash flow such as conventional oil and gas and shallow gas properties, and higher-risk, longer-term assets including tight gas and oil sands. Enerplus’ long-term debt of $522.8 million is low at 11% of market cap. To conserve cash, Enerplus lowered its quarterly distribution with the January, 2009 payment by 34.2%, to $0.25 from $0.38. It now yields 11.4%. Enerplus’s cash flow for 2009 is forecast at $4.80 a share. The trust trades at 5.5 times that estimate. Enerplus Resources Fund is a buy.

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