These Resource picks set you up for gains

Article Excerpt

Despite persistently low oil and gas prices, you should continue to hold Resource stocks in your portfolio (as much as 15% of the total). To cut your risk, however, investors should stick with producers—like Cenovus and Encana—that have high-quality properties and low operating costs. CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $12 is a buy for investors. The company (Toronto symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares o/s: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $14.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.cenovus.com) paid ConocoPhillips (New York symbol COP) $17.7 billion in cash and stock in May 2017 for its 50% stake in the Christina Lake and Foster Creek oil sands properties. Cenovus’s investors now benefit from the company’s 100% ownership of these high-quality Alberta properties. They form its core production in Canada. The company also owns 50% of an oil refinery in Illinois and one in Texas. Phillips 66 (New York symbol PSX) holds the other 50%. In 2020, Cenovus expects to spend between…