These former trusts offer high payouts

Article Excerpt

These two former income trusts recently converted to corporations in response to Ottawa’s tax on income-trust distributions. That means they must now pay corporate taxes. Even so, their high payouts (which are now dividends) seem secure. PENGROWTH ENERGY CORP. $12 (Toronto symbol PGF; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 326.0 million; Market cap: $3.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 7.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.pengrowth.com) is the new name of Pengrowth Energy Trust. It produces oil and natural gas from properties in Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan. Pengrowth also holds interests in other energy projects, such as its 8.4% stake in the Sable Offshore Energy Project, which operates three offshore-drilling platforms south of Nova Scotia. Roughly 60% of the company’s production is natural gas. The remaining 40% is oil. Low gas prices have hurt Pengrowth’s earnings and held back its cash flow. However, it has locked in prices for 23% of its 2011 daily production at $5.72 per thousand cubic feet. That’s…