Merger sets the stage for growth

Article Excerpt

Suncor is new to our Conservative Growth Portfolio. We added it last August after it bought Petro-Canada, one of our long-time recommendations. We avoided Suncor before the merger. Its focus on high-cost oil-sands production made it more volatile than other high-quality oil companies, and left it with more to lose if oil prices fell. However, the Petro-Canada takeover diversified Suncor’s operations. As well, cost savings from the merger will help it fund new oil-sands projects and pay down debt. SUNCOR ENERGY INC. $33 (Toronto symbol SU; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $52.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 1.2%; SI Rating: Average) became Canada’s largest oil company when it bought Petro-Canada (old symbol PCA) on August 1, 2009. Petro-Canada shareholders received 1.28 Suncor shares for each Petro-Canada share they held. Conventional oil and natural gas account for about 60% of the merged company’s production. The remaining 40% comes from oil sands. That includes its 12% stake in…