Cenovus Energy Inc.

CENOVUS ENERGY $29.31 (Toronto symbol CVE; Shares outstanding: 757.0 million; Market cap: $22.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 3.6%; www.cenovus.com) has opened the latest phase of its 50%-owned Foster Creek oil sands project in Alberta. U.S.-based ConocoPhillips (New York symbol COP) owns 50% of both Cenovus’s Foster Creek and Christina Lake projects. Foster Creek produced an average of 119,000 barrels a day in August 2014. This latest phase should add 30,000 barrels when it reaches fullcapacity in the next 12 to 18 months....

CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $34 (Toronto symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 757.0 million; Market cap: $25.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 3.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cenovus.com) owns 50% of the Foster Creek and Christina Lake oil sands projects in Alberta; ConocoPhillips (New York symbol COP) owns the other 50%.

The partners are now developing a third property called Narrows Lake. The project’s first phase should start up in 2017 and will add 22,500 barrels to Cenovus’s daily oil production, which averaged 201,688 barrels in the latest quarter.

Cenovus is also developing two other 100%-owned oil sands projects: Telephone Lake and Grand Rapids. In all, these properties could produce up to 100,000 barrels a day.

...

ENBRIDGE INC., $56.48, Toronto symbol ENB, plans to transfer its 66.7% stake in the U.S. portion of its Alberta Clipper pipeline to its American affiliate, Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (New York symbol EEP). Alberta Clipper pumps crude from Alberta’s oil sands to Superior, Wisconsin. Enbridge will receive $300 million U.S. in cash and $600 million U.S. worth of Enbridge Energy Partners units. The $900-million U.S. total is equal to 2% of Enbridge’s $47.8-billion (Canadian) market cap....

CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $34 (Toronto symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 757.0 million; Market cap: $25.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 3.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cenovus.com) owns 50% of the Foster Creek and Christina Lake oil sands projects in Alberta; ConocoPhillips (New York symbol COP) owns the other 50%. The partners are now developing a third property called Narrows Lake. The project’s first phase should start up in 2017 and will add 22,500 barrels to Cenovus’s daily oil production, which averaged 201,688 barrels in the latest quarter. Cenovus is also developing two other 100%-owned oil sands projects: Telephone Lake and Grand Rapids. In all, these properties could produce up to 100,000 barrels a day....

One of the ways a company can try to unlock its own hidden value is by creating a separate company out of a subsidiary. The parent company can either sell stock in the new company to the public, or spin it off—hand the stock out to its own investors. In the past few years, it has become common to do both. The parent company starts by selling a portion of the new company to the public, to establish a market and a following among investors. That way, by the time of the spin-off, stock in the new company may be liquid enough to be sold relatively easily, or retained with some confidence as a worthwhile investment. In our experience, and in most academic studies of the subject, this helps the parent and the spin-off. Both generally do better than comparable companies for at least several years after the spin-off takes place....

Oil prices have held steady at around $100 a barrel, even as the U.S. shale boom has increased that country’s production by 70% in the past five years. That’s mainly due to fears that unrest in the Middle East and Ukraine could threaten world oil supplies. We feel the best way to invest in the cyclical oil and gas industry is through well-established producers like these four. Their high-quality operations give them plenty of cash flow to replenish their reserves and pay for share buybacks and dividends. However, not all are buys right now. CHEVRON CORP. $129 (New York symbol CVX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.9 billion; Market cap: $245.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.chevron.com) is the second-largest integrated oil company in the U.S. by revenue, after ExxonMobil (New York symbol XOM)....

CENOVUS ENERGY $33.41 (Toronto symbol CVE; Shares outstanding: 756.9 million; Market cap: $25.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 3.2%; www.cenovus.com) gets 40% of its output from its Alberta oil sands projects. Conventional oil and gas supplies 60%.

U.S.-based ConocoPhillips (New York symbol COP) owns 50% of Cenovus’s main Foster Creek and Christina Lake oil sands projects.

In the quarter ended June 30, 2014, cash flow per share jumped 36.5%, to $1.57 from $1.15 a year ago.

...

CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $31 (New York symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 756.5 million; Market cap: $23.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cenovus.com) gets 40% of its output from its Alberta oil sands projects. Conventional oil and gas wells supply the other 60%.

U.S.-based ConocoPhillips (New York symbol COP) owns 50% of Cenovus’s main Foster Creek and Christina Lake oil sands projects. These properties produce heavy bitumen, which Cenovus ships to its 50%-owned refineries in Illinois and Texas.

Phillips 66 (New York symbol PSX) owns the other 50% of these refineries. The company produced 286,188 barrels of oil equivalent a day (70% oil and 30% gas) in the second quarter of 2014, up 9.9% from 260,460 a year ago.

...

Encana took its present form on December 1, 2009, after the old EnCana Corp. split itself into two new firms: the new Encana, which focuses on gas, and Cenovus Energy, which specializes in oil sands. Lower gas prices have pushed Encana’s shares down by about 20% since the split. Oil prices have risen, however, and Cenovus’s stock is up about 28%. ENCANA CORP. $22.86 (Toronto symbol ECA; Shares outstanding: 741.0 million; Market cap: $16.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.3%; www.encana.com) is one of North America’s largest natural gas producers. Encana continues to benefit from its new plan to focus on six main properties: Montney (B.C.), Duvernay (Alberta), DJ Basin (Colorado), San Juan Basin (New Mexico), the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (Louisiana) and Texas’s Eagle Ford oil shale....

BOMBARDIER INC., Toronto symbols BBD.A $3.86 and BBD.B $3.80, reported better-than-expected quarterly results this week. Before one-time items, Bombardier earned $192 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2014, up 21.5% from $158 million a year earlier (all amounts except share prices in U.S. dollars). Earnings per share rose 11.1%, to $0.10 from $0.09, on more shares outstanding. That beat the consensus estimate of $0.09. Overall revenue rose 10.4%, $4.9 billion from $4.4 billion, also exceeding the consensus forecast of $4.7 billion....