Cenovus is a top oil buy

Article Excerpt

CENOVUS ENERGY $11.83 (Toronto symbol CVE; Shares o/s: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $14.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.7%; www.cenovus.com) acquired 100% of its main oil sands properties in Alberta in May 2017. It did that through the purchase of the 50% stake held by its partner in the project, ConocoPhillips (New York symbol COP), for $17.7 billion in cash and stock. In the quarter ended June 30, 2018, the company’s cash flow rose 3.9%, to $774 million from $745 million. Due to the extra shares outstanding, cash flow per share declined 6.0%, to $0.63 from $0.67. The ConocoPhillips purchase pushed up Cenovus’s long-term debt to $10.0 billion. That’s a high 69% of its market cap. To help pay that down, the company continues to sell its less-important conventional properties. The stock trades at a moderate 7.6 times Cenovus’s likely 2018 cash flow of $1.55 a share. The shares yield 1.7%. Cenovus Energy is a buy. buy…