cenovus energy

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....

ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX FUND $21.94 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) is a good low-fee way to buy the top stocks on the TSX. The units are made up of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index, which consists of the 60 largest, most heavily traded stocks on the exchange. Expenses are just 0.17% of assets.

The index mostly consists of high-quality companies. However, it must ensure that all sectors are represented, so it holds a few we wouldn’t include.

The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 8.1%; TD Bank, 7.4%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 6.4%; Suncor Energy, 4.8%; CN Railway, 4.2%; Canadian Natural Resources, 3.9%; Bank of Montreal, 3.7%; Enbridge, 3.1%; Valeant Pharmaceuticals, 3.0%; Manulife Financial, 2.9%; CIBC, 2.8%; BCE, 2.7%; TransCanada Corp., 2.6%; Potash Corp., 2.5%; CP Rail, 2.2%; and Cenovus, 1.9%.

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Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are set up to mirror the performance of a stock market index or sub-index. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings that go into the calculation of the index or sub-index. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. That’s different from mutual funds, which you can only buy at the end of the day, at a price that reflects the fund’s value at the close of trading. Prices of ETFs are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell them, but their low management fees give them a cost advantage over most mutual funds....

CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $32 (Toronto symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 756.5 million; Market cap: $24.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cenovus.com) gets about 40% of its output from its oil sands projects in Alberta. Conventional oil and natural 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 in Alberta. 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. In 2013, refining accounted for 66% of Cenovus’s revenue and 40% of its earnings.


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CENOVUS ENERGY INC. (Toronto symbol CVE; www.cenovus.com) gets about 40% of its output from its oil sands projects in Alberta. Conventional oil and natural 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 in Alberta. 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. In 2013, refining accounted for 66% of Cenovus’s revenue and 40% of its earnings....

CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $32 (Toronto symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 756.5 million; Market cap: $24.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cenovus.com) gets about 40% of its output from its oil sands projects in Alberta. Conventional oil and natural 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 in Alberta. 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. In 2013, refining accounted for 66% of Cenovus’s revenue and 40% of its earnings. ...

CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $32 (Toronto symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 756.5 million; Market cap: $24.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cenovus.com) gets about 40% of its output from its oil sands projects in Alberta....

In late 2012 and early 2013, Alberta’s heavy oil, or bitumen, was trading at a discount of around $40 U.S. a barrel to U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light crude. Bitumen from the oil sands is a thick, tar-like form of oil that requires more processing than regular crude. The lower price for Canadian bitumen was mostly due to a lack of pipeline and refinery capacity. As well, increased U.S. light oil production drove down the price of Alberta’s harder-to-process heavy oil. Since then, though, the discount has narrowed: earlier this month, Alberta oil sold for $19.50 U.S. a barrel less than U.S. benchmark WTI light crude....

ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX FUND $19.25 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) is a good low-fee way to buy the top stocks on the TSX. The units are made up of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index, which consists of the 60 largest, most heavily traded stocks on the exchange. Expenses are just 0.17% of assets.

The index mostly consists of high-quality companies. However, it must ensure that all sectors are represented, so it holds a few we wouldn’t include.

The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 8.3%; TD Bank, 7.3%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 6.4%; Suncor Energy, 4.5%; CN Railway, 4.1%; Bank of Montreal, 3.9%; Manulife Financial, 3.1%; Canadian Natural Resources, 3.1%; CIBC, 3.0%; BCE, 3.0%; Enbridge, 3.0%; Valeant Pharmaceuticals, 2.9%; TransCanada Corporation, 2.7%; Potash Corp., 2.4%; CP Rail, 2.1%; Telus, 2.0%; and Cenovus, 1.9%.
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