Updating Encana, BCE Inc., and Telus

Article Excerpt

ENCANA $11.04 (Toronto symbol ECA; Shares outstanding: 842.5 million; Market cap: $8.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 3.3%; www.encana.com) continues to increase production at its four main properties: Montney (B.C.), Duvernay (Alberta) and Eagle Ford and Permian (both in Texas). These fields produce large amounts of oil and natural gas liquids, such as propane and butane, making Encana less reliant on natural gas. In August 2015, these four properties produced an average of 257,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (including gas), up 15.2% from 223,000 barrels in the second quarter of 2015. Encana expects these fields’ output to rise to 270,000 barrels a day in the fourth quarter of 2015. The company continues to use hedging contracts to lock in selling prices: it has hedged 38,000 barrels a day of its expected 2016 oil output at $62.83 U.S. a barrel, or 41.9% more than today’s price of $44.77 U.S. Encana is still a buy for long-term gains. BCE…