Our #1 pick is expanding in the oil sands

Article Excerpt

TECK RESOURCES LTD. $27 (Toronto symbol TCK.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 576.3 million; Market cap: $15.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.teck.com) will contribute $2.9 billion to the Fort Hills oil sands project (see Suncor at left). Teck mainly produces coal, copper and zinc, so Fort Hills will help diversify its operations. Its mining expertise will also help keep Fort Hills’ operating costs down. The company will probably sell some of its less important assets to free up cash for Fort Hills. For example, it has reportedly agreed to sell its 3% stake in Australian iron ore mining company Fortescue Metals Group for about $479 million. Teck Resources is still our #1 buy for 2013. 2013…