oil and gas

CIMAREX ENERGY $91.50 (New York symbol XEC; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (303-295-3995; www.cimarex.com; Shares outstanding: 86.5 million; Market cap: $7.9 billion; Dividend yield: 0.6%) produces and explores for natural gas and oil. Gas makes up 49% of its output. Cimarex’s properties are in the Mid-Continent region of the U.S., which includes Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas (50% of production); the Permian Basin of western Texas and southeastern New Mexico (47%); and the Texas Gulf Coast (3%).

In the three months ended June 30, 2013, Cimarex’s production averaged 686.8 million cubic feet of natural gas equivalent per day (including oil).

That’s up 16.4% from 590.1 million cubic feet a year earlier. Thanks to the higher production and increased oil and gas prices, Cimarex’s cash flow per share jumped 42.9%, to $4.00 from $2.80.
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DEVON ENERGY CORP. $59.82 (New York symbol DVN; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (405-235- 3611; www.dvn.com; Shares outstanding: 406.0 million; Market cap: $23.9 billion; Dividend yield: 1.5%) is one of the largest U.S.-based oil and natural gas explorers and producers. Its production mix is 58% gas and 42% oil.

In 2011, Devon sold all of its international and Gulf of Mexico properties, which it saw as risky and expensive to develop. The company is now focused on its North American projects, which include conventional production, shale oil in Texas and oil sands in Alberta.

Devon is now further tightening its focus by selling its natural gas gathering and processing assets for $300 million to $500 million.
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COMPUTER MODELLING GROUP $24.00 (Toronto symbol CMG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-531-1300; www.cmgroup.com; Shares outstanding: 38.5 million; Market cap: $943.5 million; Dividend yield: 3.0%) sells consulting services and software that help oil and gas producers use advanced recovery techniques to get more out of their existing wells. It has customers in over 50 countries and offices in Calgary, Houston, London, Caracas, Bogota, Kuala Lumpur and Dubai.

In the three months ended June 30, 2013, Computer Modelling’s revenue rose 10.0%, to $18.1 million from $16.5 million a year earlier. Software licence sales increased, as did consulting and professional services revenue. Earnings rose 16.3%, to $7.1 million from $6.1 million. Per-share earnings gained 18.8%, to $0.19 from $0.16, on fewer shares outstanding.

Computer Modelling holds cash of $63.1 million, or $1.66 a share, and has no debt. It spent $3.5 million, or a high 19.2% of its revenue, on research in the latest quarter.
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PASON SYSTEMS $21.70 (Toronto symbol PSI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-301-3400; www.pason.com; Shares outstanding: 82.1 million; Market cap: $1.8 billion; Dividend yield: 2.4%) rents equipment for monitoring and managing oil and gas rigs. It also sells communication technology, such as its satellite system, which companies use to remotely collect data from their drilling operations. Pason serves oil and gas producers and drilling contractors throughout Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Argentina and Australia.

In the three months ended June 30, 2013, Pason’s revenue fell 2.1%, to $82.4 million from $84.1 million a year earlier. Less drilling in the U.S. and Canada offset strong international sales. Still, cash flow per share rose 5.1%, to $0.62 from $0.59. That’s because the company cut costs at its U.S. operations, which account for 71% of its revenue.

Pason holds cash of $195.4 million, or $2.38 a share, and has no debt.
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VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC., $47.38, New York symbol VZ, is negotiating with U.K.-based Vodafone Group plc (Nasdaq symbol VOD) to buy the 45% of Verizon Wireless that it doesn’t already own. Verizon Wireless is a joint venture that sells wireless services to 100.1 million subscribers in the U.S. In the second quarter of 2013, it supplied 67% of Verizon’s revenue and 80% of its earnings. Buying full control could cost Verizon as much as $130 billion. That’s almost equal to the company’s $135.6 billion market cap (or the total value of all its outstanding shares)....

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD, $60.74, symbol ATD.B on Toronto, rose almost 5% today after reporting its latest quarterly results. In the three months ended July 21, 2013, Couche-Tard’s sales jumped 48.0%, to $8.9 billion from $6.0 billion a year earlier. The gain mostly came from Norway’s Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA, which Couche-Tard bought for $2.7 billion in June 2012 (all figures except share price in U.S. dollars). The company also benefited from higher fuel volumes and merchandise sales. Couche-Tard gets about 30% of its revenue by selling merchandise. Excluding one-time items, earnings rose 20.9%, to $220.0 million from $182.0 million. Earnings per share rose 16.0%, to $1.16 from $1.00, on more shares outstanding. The latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.95 a share....

Pat McKeough responds to many requests from members of his Inner Circle for specific advice on Canadian stocks and other investments as well as questions on investment strategy and the economy. Every week, his comments and recommendations on the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And each week, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions. While we reserve our buy-hold-sell advice for Inner Circle members, these excerpts provide a great deal of information and analysis on stocks we’ve covered for members of Pat’s Inner Circle....

SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. $41 (Toronto symbol SNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 151.6 million; Market cap: $6.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.snclavalin.com) replaced most of its senior management following the discovery of $56 million U.S. in unusual payments it made in 2011 to help win Libyan construction contracts. SNC has also strengthened its oversight and compliance procedures in response to allegations that it used bribes to win certain contracts in Quebec.

These issues haven’t stopped the company from winning new deals. For example, MEG Energy (Toronto symbol MEG) recently hired SNC to design a new processing facility at its oil sands operation in Alberta.

However, SNC lost $37.7 million, or $0.25 a share, in the three months ended June 30, 2013. That’s mainly due to a $70.1-million charge related to delays building an oil-and-gas project in Algeria. The company also set aside $47.0 million to cover potential losses on a project in Libya that it stopped working on in 2011. A year earlier, SNC earned $31.7 million, or $0.21 a share.
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PENGROWTH ENERGY $5.84 (Toronto symbol PGF; Shares outstanding: 516.1 million; Market cap: $3.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 8.2%; www.pengrowth.com) has sold several of its less important oil and gas properties in Western Canada for $700 million.

Including the company’s earlier $316-million sale of its 10.02% interest in the Weyburn oil project in Saskatchewan, Pengrowth has now reached its goal of raising $1 billion through asset sales in 2013.

The cash will help Pengrowth develop its $590-milllion Lindbergh oil sands project in Alberta. It will also help the company pay down its long-term debt, which stood at $1.6 billion on June 30, 2013. That’s equal to 52% of Pengrowth’s $3.1-billion market cap. The monthly dividend of $0.04 a share still seems safe and gives the stock an 8.2% yield.
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CRESCENT POINT ENERGY CORP. $37.79 (Toronto symbol CPG; Shares outstanding: 386.1 million; Market cap: $14.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 7.3%; www.crescentpointenergy.com) produces oil and natural gas in western Canada. Its output is weighted 90% toward oil and 10% to gas.

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

In the three months ended June 30, 2013, Crescent Point’s cash flow rose 30.6%, to $504.4 million from $386.3 million a year earlier.
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