Higher spending set to boost their output

Article Excerpt

ENERPLUS CORP. $12.89 (Toronto symbol ERF; Shares outstanding: 245.3 million; Market cap: $3.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; Dividend yield: 0.9%) produces oil and gas from properties in Western Canada—Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C.—as well as North Dakota and Montana. The company also has properties in the Marcellus Shale. That rock formation runs through Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia. Enerplus’s output jumped 22.4% in the latest quarter, to an average 96,861 barrels of oil equivalent per day (45% gas and 55% oil) from 79,128 a year earlier. Cash flow jumped 132.7%, to $210.4 million, or $0.86 a share, from $90.4 million, or $0.37, a year earlier. The big increase came from higher oil prices. Enerplus’s realized oil price rose 54.9%, to $83.98 U.S. per barrel from $54.21. On September 30, 2018, the company’s long-term debt stood at $602.8 million, or a low 19% of its market cap. That’s down from $1.2 billion at the start of 2016. It also has cash of $347.6 million from…