encana

Chevron dividend- Chevron’s oil gas earnings have dropped dramatically with energy prices, but its refineries new gas projects are keeping its dividend safe

ENCANA $6.96 (Toronto symbol ECA; Shares outstanding: 840.8 million; Market cap: $6.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Divd. yield: 1.2%; www.encana.com) continues to take steps to conserve cash while it waits for oil and gas prices to recover. Encana has cut its quarterly payout by 78.6%, to $0.015 a share from $0.07 (all amounts except share price in U.S. dollars). The stock now yields 1.2%. This should save the company $185 million a year. As well, Encana will spend $1.5 billion to $1.7 billion to expand and upgrade its properties in 2016, down about $600 million from 2015....

VERESEN $8.60 (Toronto symbol VSN; Shares outstanding: 295.8 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Div. yield: 11.6%; www.vereseninc.com) and KKR & Co. LP (symbol KKR on New York) formed a joint venture called Veresen Midstream in late 2014. The partners then bought natural gas gathering and compression assets in northeastern B.C. from Encana and Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. for $1 billion. As well, Veresen Midstream agreed to undertake a $5-billion expansion for gas producers, including Encana. These developments would be backed by 30-year contracts. That will significantly cut Veresen Midstream’s risk....

With energy prices down, Encana has cut its dividend and sold assets, but we still view it as an energy stock with great long-term potential.

PLEASE NOTE: This is our last Hotline for 2015. Our next Hotline will go out on Friday, January 8, 2016. ENCANA CORP., $7.02, Toronto symbol ECA, fell 15% this week after cutting its dividend and 2016 capital spending plans. In response to the weak outlook for oil and natural gas, Encana has cut its quarterly payout by 78.6%, to $0.015 a share from $0.07 (all amounts except share price in U.S. dollars). The new annual rate of $0.06 yields 1.2%. Encana will also eliminate the 2% discount it offers to shareholders who reinvest their dividends in additional shares. In all, these moves will save it $185 million a year....

Lower prices for oil and other commodities are weighing on Encana and Finning (see box). However, both firms are aggressively cutting costs, which puts them in a better position to grow when prices recover. ENCANA CORP. $9.14 (Toronto symbol ECA; Con- servative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 845.7 million; Market cap: $7.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 4.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.encana.com) raised $2.7 billion in 2015 by selling less important properties (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). These sales are part of the company’s plan to focus on four key projects: Montney (B.C.), Duvernay (Alberta) and Eagle Ford and Permian (both in Texas). These fields produce large amounts of oil and natural gas liquids, such as propane and butane, which cuts Encana’s reliance on natural gas. They’re also efficient, which helps the company cope with low oil and gas prices....

ENCANA CORP. $9.14 (Toronto symbol ECA; Con- servative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 845.7 million; Market cap: $7.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 4.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.encana.com) raised $2.7 billion in 2015 by selling less important properties (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). These sales are part of the company’s plan to focus on four key projects: Montney (B.C.), Duvernay (Alberta) and Eagle Ford and Permian (both in Texas). These fields produce large amounts of oil and natural gas liquids, such as propane and butane, which cuts Encana’s reliance on natural gas. They’re also efficient, which helps the company cope with low oil and gas prices. Because of these asset sales, Encana’s production fell 15.4% in the three months ended September 30, 2015, to 398,300 barrels a day (65% gas and 35% oil and natural gas liquids) from 470,600 a year earlier....

ENBRIDGE INC. $47.24 (Toronto symbol ENB; Shares outstanding: 860.1 million; Market cap: $40.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.9%; www.enbridge.com) has paid $200 million U.S. for 100% of the New Creek Wind Project in West Virginia. This development consists of 49 wind turbines that can generate a total of 103 megawatts. It should start up in December 2016. The company has long-term contracts to sell this power at fixed rates, which cuts the risk of this investment. Including this purchase, Enbridge has invested $5 billion (Canadian) in renewable power projects with a total capacity of 2,000 megawatts....

MOLSON COORS CANADA INC., Toronto symbols TPX.A $118.50 and TPX.B $124.50, has agreed to buy the 58% of the MillerCoors joint venture it doesn’t own.

MillerCoors was formed in 2008, when Molson Coors and SABMiller merged their U.S. brewing operations. Each company has a 50% voting interest in MillerCoors, but SABMiller gets 58% of the profits, while Molson Coors gets 42%.

This week, SABMiller agreed to merge with rival Anheuser-Busch InBev to form the world’s largest brewer. Competition regulators will likely require the new firm to sell certain operations, including its MillerCoors stake.

Molson Coors will pay $12 billion for SABMiller’s interest (all amounts except share price in U.S. dollars). The deal also includes Miller’s brands outside the U.S.

This a big purchase for Molson Coors, which has a $17.0-billion market cap (or the value of all outstanding shares).

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TD BANK $54.16 (Toronto symbol TD; Shares outstanding: 1.9 billion; Market cap: $100.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.8%; www.td.com) is seeing slowing loan demand, especially in Western Canada, where the oil-price drop has forced producers to postpone projects and lay off workers. At the same time, low interest rates are cutting the interest income TD earns on its loans, and more of its customers are banking online instead of in bank branches. All of these factors have prompted the bank to look for ways to cut costs and boost efficiency at its Canadian and U.S. operations. That will probably lead to several hundred job cuts....