Chevron Corp.
New York symbol CVX, is the second-largest integrated oil company in the United States after ExxonMobil. Production accounts for about 80% of its earnings. The remaining 20% comes from refineries and retail gas stations.
Resist the urge to go overboard in Canadian oil stocks—but especially in junior oils, futures or options.
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) give you a low-cost, flexible alternative to mutual funds. Here are five ETFs we recommend and one to sell.
ALPHABET INC., Nasdaq symbols GOOG (class C non-voting), $718.77, and GOOGL (class A voting), $737.77, is the new holding company for Google’s Internet search business and its smaller, riskier operations. The company calls those smaller businesses its “Other Bets”; they sell home thermostats, high-speed Internet and digital TV services—among other tech products. In the three months ended March 31, 2016, Alphabet’s revenue rose 17.4%, to $20.3 billion from $17.3 billion a year earlier. The Google search engine business accounted for 99% of the total. If you exclude traffic acquisition costs (fees that Google pays affiliates to redirect traffic to its websites), Alphabet’s revenue rose 18.4% to $16.5 billion. On that basis, revenue just missed the consensus forecast of $16.6 billion....
FORTIS INC., $39.86, Toronto symbol FTS, owns electrical utilities across Canada and in the U.S. and the Caribbean. It also distributes natural gas in British Columbia. The company has completed its latest acquisition in northern B.C.—a 93.8% stake in the Aitken Creek natural gas storage facility. Fortis paid Chevron Corp (New York symbol CVX) $266 million U.S. for the underground complex. To put that in context, Fortis earned $589 million, or $2.11 a share, in 2015. BP Canada owns the remaining 6.2% stake in the B.C. facility. Currently, Fortis leases one-third of Aitken Creek’s capacity. Owning this facility should reduce the company’s costs....
Parkland Fuel will raise its dividend in 2016 and continue to expand with the purchase of 17 Esso stations and the franchise rights for On the Run convenience stores.
Parkland Fuel Corp., $21.35, symbol PKI on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 94.1 million; Market cap: $2.0 billion, www.parkland.ca), operates gas stations, convenience stores and a fuel-distribution business, mostly in Western Canada and Ontario. It was called Parkland Income Fund before it converted to a dividend-paying corporation on December 31, 2010. The company owns 312 rural gas stations and convenience stores. Its brands include Fas Gas Plus, Race Trac Gas and Short Stop. Many of Parkland’s stations sell propane in addition to gasoline and diesel fuel. Parkland also operates Esso stations in Western Canada and Ontario under a licensing deal with Imperial Oil (symbol IMO on Toronto). In addition, it has an agreement to use the Chevron brand in B.C....
Chicago Bridge & Iron Company NV, $34.97, symbol CBI on New York (Shares outstanding: 104.6 million; Market cap: $3.8 billion; www.cbi.com), is one of the world’s leading engineering and construction companies. It specializes in projects for the energy, petrochemical and natural resource industries. Netherlands-based Chicago Bridge was founded in 1889. The company’s projects include oil and gas processing plants, liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, offshore structures, bulk liquid terminals, and water storage and treatment facilities. Chicago Bridge also provides a range of maintenance and repair services. Customers include Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Occidental Petroleum, ConocoPhillips, Saudi Aramco, Alcoa and BHP Billiton. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is Chicago Bridge’s biggest shareholder, with a 9.9% interest....
AMERICAN EXPRESS CO., $59.44, New York symbol AXP, rose 2% this week on speculation that WELLS FARGO &CO., $50.05, New York symbol WFC, will soon launch a takeover offer. Berkshire Hathaway (New York symbol BKB.B), the holding company controlled by billionaire investors Warren Buffett, owns 15.6% of American Express and 9.8% of Wells Fargo. An acquisition would enhance Wells Fargo’s credit card business and give it access to Amex’s high-quality clientele. In addition, the bank’s large depositor base provides a lower-cost way of funding credit card loans. Combining the two businesses would also allow Wells Fargo to eliminate overlapping operations....
CHEVRON CORP. $83 (New York symbol CVX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.9 billion; Market cap: $157.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 5.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.chevron.com) recently signed deals to sell 1.5 million metric tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year to clients in China. These deals will add to the prospects of its Gorgon LNG project off northwestern Australia, which will start up in the next few months. Chevron owns 47.3% of Gorgon and operates the project. It cost $54 billion to build; Chevron’s share of the costs is $25.5 billion. The recent drop in gas prices will hurt Gorgon’s initial profitability. However, it should become a major supplier of gas to Japan, South Korea, India and China. Moreover, its reserves should last at least 40 years....
ALLIANT ENERGY CORP. $62 (New York symbol LNT; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 113.4 million; Market cap: $7.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 3.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.alliantenergy.com) sells power and natural gas to 1.4 million clients in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. The company has raised its quarterly dividend by 6.8% with the February 2016 payment, to $0.5875 from $0.55. The new annual rate of $2.35 yields 3.8%. Alliant has paid quarterly dividends since 1946 and has raised the annual rate each year since 2004. Alliant Energy is a buy....