transcanada

In late 2012 and early 2013, Alberta’s heavy oil, or bitumen, was trading at a discount of around $40 U.S. a barrel to U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light crude. Bitumen from the oil sands is a thick, tar-like form of oil that requires more processing than regular crude. The lower price for Canadian bitumen was mostly due to a lack of pipeline and refinery capacity. As well, increased U.S. light oil production drove down the price of Alberta’s harder-to-process heavy oil. Since then, though, the discount has narrowed: earlier this month, Alberta oil sold for $19.50 U.S. a barrel less than U.S. benchmark WTI light crude....

Suncor is shipping more oil by rail while waiting for governments to approve new pipeline, such as TransCanada’s Keystone XL. At the same time, recently completed oil sands projects are raising the company’s production....

TRANSCANADA CORP. $49 (Toronto symbol TRP; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 707.4 million; Market cap: $34.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.8; Dividend yield: 3.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.transcanada.com) could begin work on its Keystone XL oil pipeline later this year after the U.S....

Suncor and Imperial Oil (see box) are shipping more oil by rail while they wait for governments to approve new pipelines (see TransCanada on page 23). That’s adding to their costs.

But at the same time, recently completed oil sands projects are raising their production—and these fields should last for decades.

SUNCOR ENERGY INC....

TRANSCANADA CORP. $47.82 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 707.0 million; Market cap: $33.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.9%; www.transcanada.com) has agreed to sell its Cancarb business to Japan’s Tokai Carbon Co.

Alberta-based Cancarb makes thermal carbon black from natural gas....

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TRANSCANADA CORP. $47.76 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 707.0 million; Market cap: $33.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.9%; www.transcanada.com) recently completed the purchase of another Ontario solar power facility from Canadian Solar (Nasdaq symbol CSIQ).

TransCanada now owns four of the nine solar farms it agreed to buy from Canadian Solar in 2011. It expects to take possession of the remaining five by the end of 2014. In all, it will pay about $500 million.

The company has 20-year deals to sell the power from these nine solar farms, which cuts the risk of this investment.
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TRANSCANADA CORP. $47.76 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 707.0 million; Market cap: $33.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.9%; www.transcanada.com) recently completed the purchase of another Ontario solar power facility from Canadian Solar (Nasdaq symbol CSIQ).

TransCanada now owns four of the nine solar farms it agreed to buy from Canadian Solar in 2011....

CGI GROUP INC., $34.96, Toronto symbol GIB.A, is Canada’s largest provider of computer outsourcing services. It helps its clients automate certain routine functions, like accounting and buying supplies. That makes companies more efficient and lets them focus on their main businesses. The company is the lead contractor for the Healthcare.gov website, which lets Americans shop for health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act (or Obamacare). Since the site began operating on October 1, 2013, visitors have had trouble logging on and evaluating the various health plans. As a result, fewer users than expected have signed up. These problems have prompted Massachusetts and Vermont to withhold scheduled payments to CGI. Other states may do the same or demand refunds. That’s mainly why the stock is down 7% in the past week....

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The index mostly consists of high-quality companies. However, it must ensure that all sectors are represented, so it holds a few we wouldn’t include.

The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 8.3%; TD Bank, 7.3%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 6.4%; Suncor Energy, 4.5%; CN Railway, 4.1%; Bank of Montreal, 3.9%; Manulife Financial, 3.1%; Canadian Natural Resources, 3.1%; CIBC, 3.0%; BCE, 3.0%; Enbridge, 3.0%; Valeant Pharmaceuticals, 2.9%; TransCanada Corporation, 2.7%; Potash Corp., 2.4%; CP Rail, 2.1%; Telus, 2.0%; and Cenovus, 1.9%.
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