transcanada

TRANSCANADA CORP. $49 (Toronto symbol TRP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 707.0 million; Market cap: $34.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.2; Dividend yield: 3.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.transcanada.com) plans to build a new 200- kilometre crude oil pipeline that will connect Edmonton to the storage hub at Hardisty, Alberta....

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ENCANA CORP. $18.24 (Toronto symbol ECA; Shares outstanding: 736.3 million; Market cap: $13.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.5%; www.encana.com) continues to increase its oil production in response to low natural gas prices.

In the three months ended March 31, 2013, the company’s oil output rose 48.5%, to 43,500 barrels a day from 29,300 a year earlier....

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....

TRANSCANADA CORP., $47.92, Toronto symbol TRP, continues to move ahead with its plan to convert its main natural gas pipeline, which pumps gas from Alberta to markets in central and eastern Canada, to handle crude oil. That’s because rising production of shale gas in the northeastern U.S. has lowered this pipeline’s volumes and hurt its profitability. The company is now signing up oil producers. If demand is strong, it will begin converting the pipeline. TransCanada did not say how much this would cost, but it should complete the project by late 2017. Converting this pipeline to oil would also improve TransCanada’s long-term prospects, particularly if the U.S. government rejects its proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would pump crude oil from Alberta’s oil sands to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast....

TRANSCANADA CORP. $47.90 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 705.1 million; Market cap: $33.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.8%; www.transcanada.com) reports that its earnings fell 14.7% in 2012, to $1.3 billion, or $1.89 a share, from $1.6 billion, or $2.22 a share, in 2011.

Earnings benefited from the start-up of sections of the Keystone pipeline and contributions from new power projects. However, the company experienced unplanned outages at other power plants, and pumped less gas through its Canadian Mainline pipeline. Revenue rose 2.1%, to $8.0 billion from $7.8 billion.

The company also raised its dividend for the 13th consecutive year. The new annual rate of $1.84 a share, up 4.5% from $1.76, yields 3.8%. TransCanada is a buy.

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TRANSCANADA CORP. $47.90 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 705.1 million; Market cap: $33.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.8%; www.transcanada.com) reports that its earnings fell 14.7% in 2012, to $1.3 billion, or $1.89 a share, from $1.6 billion, or $2.22 a share, in 2011.

Earnings benefited from the start-up of sections of the Keystone pipeline and contributions from new power projects....

TRANSCANADA CORP. $48.17 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 705.1 million; Market cap: $34.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.7%; www.transcanada.com) has won a contract from Progress Energy Canada to build and operate a new $5-billion, 750-kilometre pipeline that will pump natural gas from northeastern B.C.’s Montney region to Prince Rupert, B.C.

Progress is a wholly owned subsidiary of Petronas, Malaysia’s state-owned oil company. Progress plans to build a facility near Prince Rupert that will liquefy the gas and ship it by tanker to customers in Asia.

The Prince Rupert line should begin operating in 2018.

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TRANSCANADA CORP. $49 (Toronto symbol TRP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 705.0 million; Market cap: $34.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.0; Dividend yield: 3.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.transcanada.com) has received approval from Nebraska’s governor for its plan to reroute the proposed Keystone XL pipeline around environmentally sensitive areas of the state.

The company is currently building Keystone XL in sections. When completed, it would pump oil from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The final project still needs various approvals, including from the U.S. State Department. Even so, Nebraska’s consent makes Keystone XL’s approval more likely.

TransCanada is a buy.

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TRANSCANADA CORP., $46.80, Toronto symbol TRP, hopes the U.S. State Department will approve its proposed Keystone XL pipeline in the next few months. Nebraska’s governor recently approved the company’s plan to reroute the line around environmentally sensitive areas of the state. When completed, Keystone XL would pump oil from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The entire project would cost $5.3 billion U.S. It could begin operating in late 2014 or early 2015. So far, TransCanada has invested $1.8 billion U.S. in Keystone XL. Meanwhile, TransCanada’s earnings fell 14.7% in 2012, to $1.3 billion, or $1.89 a share. These figures exclude unusual items, such as gains and losses on contracts the company uses to lock in prices for natural gas and electricity. On that basis, the latest earnings missed the consensus estimate of $1.98 a share. In 2011, it earned $1.6 billion, or $2.22 a share....