Topic: How To Invest

Pat: Can I have your recommendation on CanElson Drilling? Thank you.

Article Excerpt

A: CanElson Drilling, $5.61, symbol CDI on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 92.7 million; Market cap: $483.8 million; www.canelsondrilling.com), mainly operates drilling rigs in Western Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. The company operates these rigs under contract to oil and gas exploration and development firms. It currently has 46 rigs in operation: 28 in Canada, 12 in Texas’s Permian Basin and six in the Williston Basin (including the North Dakota Bakken area and part of Montana). CanElson also operates four rigs in Mexico through its 50%-owned joint venture, Diavaz CanElson de Mexico S.A. de C.V. In the three months ended June 30, 2014, CanElson’s revenue jumped 65.1%, to $61.9 million from $37.5 million a year earlier. Cash flow per share gained 80.0%, to $0.18 from $0.10. The average age of the company’s drilling fleet is just 5.2 years, and its rigs can drill to depths of more than 4,000 metres. This makes them well suited to the needs of today’s oil and gas producers, who…