2 Buys At Less Than 4 Times Cash Flow

Article Excerpt

CIMAREX ENERGY $41.02 (New York symbol XEC; SI Rating: Extra risk) (303-295-3995; www.cimarex.com; Shares outstanding: 83.3 million; Market cap: $3.4 billion) is an oil and gas explorer and producer primarily focused in western Oklahoma, Kansas, the upper Gulf Coast areas of Texas and South Louisiana, the Permian Basin area of West Texas, plus the Gulf of Mexico. Cimarex also purchases and markets third-party natural gas production for resale, as well as providing compression, transportation, gas-gathering and gasprocessing services in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas. Cimarex’s production averaged 441.5 million cubic feet equivalent per day in the latest quarter. Natural gas makes up 73% of production. The company expects production in the second half of this year to average 460 million cubic feet per day. In the three months ended March 31, 2007, Cimarex’s cash flow was $215.4 million or $2.62 a share, down 5.2% from $227.1 million or $2.75 a share a year earlier. The decline was largely due to lower oil and natural gas…