oil and gas

PRECISION DRILLING CORP. $3.37 (Toronto symbol PD; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resource sector; Shares outstanding: 293.2 million; Market cap: $985.1 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend suspended in March 2016; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.precisiondrilling....

PENGROWTH ENERGY CORP. $1.00 (Toronto symbol PGF; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 552.3 million; Market cap: $552.3 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend suspended in January 2016; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; www....

A new deal between OPEC, Russia and other big oil producers to limit output through the end of 2018 should help support current crude prices. That’s good news for Cenovus, which needs steady prices to pay down the debt it took on to gain full control of its two main oil sands properties....

While TD (see page 1) is our favourite for new buying, we also like the outlook for Canada’s other big banks. We advise all Canadian investors to hold at least three of them.

Like TD, the remaining four banks trade at attractive multiples to their improved earnings; each should also continue to increase its dividend....

The Thai economy is emerging from the slump caused by the political turmoil of 2013-15. During that period, a military coup ousted the country’s prime minister and installed a military-led government.

As a result, economic growth fell sharply as exports and tourism plummeted....

The ETF world is diverse, with a fund for every kind of investment strategy. That includes ETFs for those Canadians who want to invest in companies committed to protecting the environment and helping social causes. Here are two such funds:

ISHARES MSCI KLD 400 SOCIAL ETF $97 (NYSE symbol DSI; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $932.5 million) avoids companies that derive a significant portion of their business from alcohol, tobacco, gambling, civilian firearms, nuclear power, military weapons, adult entertainment, and genetically modified organisms.

The fund invests in large U.S....

We think conservative investors can hold up to 10% of their portfolios in foreign stocks. One way to do that is by choosing exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with an overseas focus.

The best ETFs continue to offer very low management fees and well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios of high quality stocks....

ARC RESOURCES $15.90 (Toronto symbol ARX; Shares o/s: 352.1 million; Market cap: $5.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; Dividend yield: 3.8%; www.arcresources.com) produces oil and natural gas in Western Canada. Its average output of 129,526 barrels of oil equivalent per day is 71% gas and 29% oil.

In the three months ended September 30, 2017, the company’s cash flow per share rose 4.5%, to $0.46 from $0.44 a year earlier....

SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. $56 (Toronto symbol SNC; Cyclical-Growth Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 175.5 million; Market cap: $9.8 billion; Dividend yield: 1.9%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.snclavalin.com) is a leading Canadian engineering and construction company that specializes in large-scale infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges and transit systems.

Starting with the March 2017 payment, investors receive $0.273 a share, up 5.0% from $0.26....

Aecon seems to be everywhere as one of Canada’s top infrastructure builders, but it’s subject to cyclical trends and government priorities.