oil and gas

ENBRIDGE INC. (Toronto symbol ENB; www.enbridge.com) gets 90% of its revenue from pipelines that pump oil and gas from western Canada to eastern Canada and the U.S. The remaining 10% mainly comes from distributing gas to 2 million consumers in Ontario, Quebec and parts of New York State....

DigitalGlobe, $28.40, symbol DGI on New York (Shares outstanding: 73.7 million; Market cap: $2.1 billion; www.digitalglobe.com), is a leading provider of commercial high-resolution earth-imagery products and services. The company’s technology is used in a range of applications, including defence, intelligence, homeland security, environmental monitoring and oil and gas exploration. DigitalGlobe’s distribution options include a direct access program that allows certain customers to directly obtain data from satellites. The company’s main customers are governments, including U.S. and foreign defence and intelligence organizations, civil agencies and providers of location-based services such Internet portals, connected devices and digital mapmakers. Additionally, DigitalGlobe serves a wide variety of companies in other industries, such as financial services, energy, telecommunications, utilities, forestry, mining, environmental services and agriculture. DigitalGlobe’s sales and earnings continue to rise along with broad-based demand from both defence and commercial customers. As well, the company recently acquired rival GeoEye for $453 million. This lessens DigitalGlobe’s competition and leaves it with the largest fleet of high-resolution Earth imaging satellites orbiting the planet....

SHERRITT INTERNATIONAL (Toronto symbol S; www.sherritt.com) is a natural resource company that produces nickel, cobalt, thermal coal, oil and gas. It also manages 356 megawatts of power generation capacity in Cuba, with an additional 150 megawatts starting up this year. The company is a major nickel producer, with operations in Cuba and Canada. As well, it is now starting up its 40%-owned Ambatovy mine on the island nation of Madagascar, off Africa’s east coast. Sherritt also produces oil and gas in Cuba, Spain and Pakistan and is Canada’s largest thermal coal producer....

TECK RESOURCES LTD., $25.21, Toronto symbol TCK.B, fell 10% this week, along with other mining stocks, mainly due to concerns about weakening economic growth in China. The Chinese economy grew by 7.7% in the first three months of 2013, down from 7.9% in the fourth quarter of 2012. The latest figure also fell short of the consensus estimate of 8% growth. China is a major consumer of coal, copper and other resources, so the news pushed down the prices of these commodities. As well, British Columbia environmental regulators have ordered Teck to develop a plan to reduce runoff from its coal mines because it is polluting adjacent rivers. The company estimates that building water-diversion systems and treatment facilities will cost $600 million over the next five years. To put that in context, Teck earned $1.5 billion, or $2.60 a share, in 2012....

BELLATRIX EXPLORATION $5.93 (Toronto symbol BXE; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-266-8670; www.bellatrixexploration- .com; Shares outstanding: 107.9 million; Market cap: $639.8 million; No dividends paid) produces natural gas (70% of output) and oil (30%) in Alberta, B.C....

WAJAX CORP. $35.88 (Toronto symbol WJX; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (905-212-3300; www.wajax.ca; Shares outstanding:16.7 million; Market cap: $599.2 million; Dividend yield: 9.0%) sells and services heavy equipment, including cranes and forklifts....

SHERRITT INTERNATIONAL $4.33 (Toronto symbol S; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-800-704- 6698; www.sherritt.com; Shares outstanding: 296.9 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; Dividend yield: 4.0%) is a diversified natural resource company that produces nickel, cobalt, thermal coal, oil and gas....

RUSSEL METALS $27.79 (Toronto symbol RUS; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (905-819-7777; www.russelmetals.com; Shares outstanding: 60.2 million; Market cap: $1.7 billion; Dividend yield: 5.0%) is one of North America’s largest metal distributors. It serves its 39,000 clients through 54 locations in Canada and 12 in the U.S.

In the three months ended December 31, 2012, Russel’s revenue rose 7.6%, to $765.9 million from $711.6 million a year earlier.

Revenue at the company’s steel-distribution division fell 20%, and sales at the metal-services business declined 10%....

Chinese stocks are down 12% since the start of this year. The markets have been reflecting investor worries that the country’s economic growth will continue to lag along with its exports to Europe and the U.S. China’s inflation rate is also rising, which could make it more difficult to spur growth through stimulus spending or lower interest rates. Still, the long-term outlook is bright....

GENERAL ELECTRIC CO., $23.46, New York symbol GE, continues to expand its oil and natural gas business, which makes a wide variety of industrial equipment, such as pumps, valves, compressors and turbines. This week, GE agreed to buy Texas-based Lufkin Industries Inc. (Nasdaq symbol LUFK). This company’s products help producers bring more oil and gas to the surface in wells with low internal pressure. Demand for this equipment is strong, as it helps producers increase their output and lower their costs. GE will pay $3.3 billion for Lufkin when the deal closes in the second half of 2013. That’s equal to 21% of GE’s 2012 earnings of $16.1 billion, or $1.52 a share....