Higher prices also benefit these three picks

Article Excerpt

Like Imperial Oil (see page 1), these three oil and gas producers are also benefitting from higher energy prices and moderating capital spending plans. That’s freeing up more cash for dividends and debt repayments. We continue to see all three as high-quality buys for the Resources portion of your portfolio. Remember to limit your overall exposure to this cyclical sector to 20% or less of your holdings (30% for more aggressive investors). SUNCOR ENERGY INC. $41 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol SU; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.44 billion; Market cap: $59.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 5.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.suncor.com) is Canada’s largest integrated oil firm, with major projects in the Alberta oil sands. It also operates four refineries (three in Canada and one in Colorado), along with 1,875 Petro-Canada gas stations. Following a strategic review. Suncor has decided to retain its Petro-Canada stations. Activist investor Elliott Management, which owns 3.4% of the company’s shares, had pushed the company…