oil and gas

CRESCENT POINT ENERGY CORP. $40.44 (Toronto symbol CPG; Shares outstanding: 395.7 million; Market cap: $16.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 6.8%; www.crescentpointenergy.com) produces oil and natural gas in Western Canada. Its output is weighted 91% toward oil and 9% to gas.

The company continues to focus on its Bakken light oil development in southeastern Saskatchewan.

In the three months ended December 31, 2013, Crescent Point’s cash flow rose 23.9%, to $533.3 million from $430.4 million a year earlier.
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PENGROWTH ENERGY CORP. $3.74 (Toronto symbol PGF; Aggressive Growth and Income Portfolios, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 538.0 million; Market cap: $2.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 6.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.pengrowth.com) recently started up its Lindbergh oil sands project in eastern Alberta, which should produce 16,000 barrels a day by the end of 2015.

The company has shut down less profitable wells in response to weak oil and gas prices. That’s why its average production fell 7.7% in the first quarter of 2015, to 69,334 barrels a day (52% oil and liquids, 48% gas) from 75,102 a year earlier. Without unusual items, Pengrowth earned $64.8 million, compared to a loss of $2.8 million. Cash flow per share fell 22.2%, to $0.21 from $0.27.

For the remainder of 2015, the company has hedged 78% of its oil production at $93.87 (Canadian) a barrel, well above today’s price of $60.16 U.S. It has also hedged 57% of its gas output at $3.72 (Canadian) per thousand cubic feet, compared to the current price of $2.94 U.S. The company’s hedges were worth $354.3 million as of March 31, 2015.

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MARKET VECTORS VIETNAM ETF $21.72 (New York symbol VNM; buy or sell through brokers) holds shares of Vietnamese companies or foreign firms that get a significant amount of their revenue from Vietnam.

The ETF’s top holdings are Masan Group (food, resources and banking conglomerate), 7.9%; Vincom Corp. (real estate), 7.6%; Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, 6.9%; Baoviet Holdings (finance and insurance), 5.8%; PetroVietnam Fertilizer & Chemical, 5.7%; PetroVietnam Technical Services (oilfield services), 5.7%; and Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (an Indian oil and gas firm), 4.8%.

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ISHARES FTSE/XINHUA CHINA 25 INDEX FUND $35.84 (New York symbol FXI; buy or sell through brokers) is an exchange traded fund that aims to track the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index, which is made up of the 25 largest, most liquid Chinese stocks. All of the stocks in the index trade on the Hong Kong exchange. Some also trade as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on New York.

The fund’s top holdings are China Construction Bank, 9.0%; Tencent Holdings, 8.8%; China Mobile, 7.6%; Industrial & Commercial Bank, 6.9%; Bank of China, 6.2%; PetroChina, 4.2%; China Shenhua Energy, 4.1%; Agricultural Bank of China, 4.0%; China Life, 4.0% and China Petroleum, 4.0%.

The fund’s holdings give it the following industry breakdown: Financials, 56.2%; Telecommunications, 13.8%; Oil and Gas, 12.2%; Technology, 8.8%, Basic Materials, 4.1%; Consumer Goods, 2.4%; and Industrials, 2.4%. Its expense ratio is 0.74%.
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ISHARES MSCI EMERGING MARKETS EASTERN EUROPE INDEX FUND $23.42 (New York symbol ESR; buy or sell through brokers) has 73.6% of its assets invested in Russia, followed by Poland at 20.3%; Czech Republic, 3.0%; and Hungary, 2.4%.

The fund’s top holdings are Gazprom (Russia: gas utility), 16.0%; Lukoil (Russia: oil), 10.0%; Sberbank (Russia: bank), 9.0%; Magnit OJSC (Russia: retailing), 5.0%; PKO Bank Polski (Poland: banking), 4.3%; Novatek (Russia: natural gas), 3.5%; and MMC Norilsk Nickel (Russia: mining), 3.3%.

iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Eastern Europe Index Fund’s expense ratio is 0.67%.
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Canexus Corp., $5.25, symbol CUS on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 180.8 million; Market cap: $936.3 million; www.canexus.ca), produces sodium-chlorate and chlor-alkali products, largely for the pulp and paper and water-treatment industries. The company’s six plants—four in Canada and two at one site in Brazil—aim to use nearby low-cost electricity sources and transportation facilities to cut their production and delivery expenses. Canexus also provides “transloading” services (transfers of oil and gas by-products, such as butane, from railcars or pipelines to trucks) at its terminal in Bruderheim, Alberta....

PLEASE NOTE: Our next Hotline will go out on Friday, April 25, 2014. POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN, $38.45, Toronto symbol POT, rose 5% this week on speculation that BHP Billiton (New York symbol BHP) may launch a second takeover offer for the company. (BHP is a recommendation of Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter that focuses on U.S. stocks.) In 2010, BHP offered to buy Potash Corp. for $43.33 U.S. a share (adjusted for a 3-for-1 stock split in February 2011). However, Ottawa ultimately blocked the takeover, as it did not provide a “net benefit” to Canada under the Investment Canada Act....

CHESAPEAKE ENERGY $27.17 (New York symbol CHK; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (405-848-8000; www.chkenergy.com; Shares outstanding: 664.0 million; Market cap: $18.1 billion; Dividend yield: 1.3%) is preparing to spin off its oil-field services division into a separate, publicly traded company....

DEVON ENERGY CORP. $68.68 (New York symbol DVN; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (405-235-3611; www.dvn.com; Shares outstanding: 407.4 million; Market cap: $27.6 billion; Dividend yield: 1.4%) is one of the largest U.S.-based oil and natural gas explorers and producers....

Petromanas Energy, $0.21, symbol PMI on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 693.7 million; Market cap: $145.7 million; www.petromanas.com), is an oil and gas company that’s focused on developing and exploring on its properties in Albania. Petromanas holds two production sharing contracts with the Albanian government. That gives it a 100% interest in Blocks D and E and a 25% interest in Blocks 2 and 3. In total, these areas include over 1.1 million acres. Petromanas also holds exploration properties in France and Australia. The company’s 75% partner in Blocks 2 and 3 is global giant Royal Dutch Shell plc, which gives the stock some speculative interest. Shell is contributing $100 million for exploration and seismic costs. It also paid Petromanas for costs incurred before Shell became its partner in February 2012....