Specialized services help offset oil risk

Article Excerpt

These four companies provide hard-to-replace services to oil and gas producers. That gives them a big advantage, particularly as oil prices have started to recover. Crude’s recent gains should also spur their earnings and give them more room for dividend hikes. SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC. $46 (Toronto symbol SNC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 152.1 million; Market cap: $7.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.snclavalin.com) fell to $36.24 in March 2015 after the RCMP charged the company and two subsidiaries for using bribes to win construction deals in Libya between 2001 and 2011. These are the same allegations that prompted SNC to replace its senior executives in 2012 and bring in a new program to enforce ethical practices. The company plans to fight these charges. Meantime, SNC has continued to win public works contracts, including one for building a new bridge in Montreal and another for a transit line in Toronto. That’s…