Topic: How To Invest

Pat: Is Suncor a good stock to buy now? Thank you.

Article Excerpt

Suncor Energy, $25.29, symbol SU on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 935.5 million; Market cap: $23.7 billion), is a Calgary-based integrated energy company with a focus on oil-sands production. Suncor runs Canada’s second-largest oil-sands operation and operates refineries in Sarnia, Ontario, and Colorado. Suncor’s oil-sands business, located near Fort McMurray, Alberta, recovers bitumen from the oil sands and upgrades it to refinery-ready feedstock and diesel fuel. In Ontario, aside from its 70,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Sarnia, Suncor operates 280 gas stations under the Sunoco brand. (Sunoco Canada is not related to Philadelphia-based refiner Sunoco Inc., symbol SUN on New York.) In the U.S., Suncor operates a 90,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Denver, Colorado, and retail sales (also in the Denver area) under the Phillips 66 brand. In the three months ended December 31, 2008, Suncor’s cash flow per share fell 54.6%, to $0.59 from $1.30 a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, earnings fell 35.9%, to $434 million, or $0.46 a share, from $677 million, or $0.73 a..