Encana will cash in when gas use booms

Article Excerpt

ENCANA CORP. $20 (Toronto symbol ECA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 736.3 million; Market cap: $14.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 4.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.encana.com) is one of North America’s largest natural gas producers. Its reserves should last over 11 years. The company took its present form on December 1, 2009, after the old EnCana Corp. split itself into two new companies: the new Encana, which focuses on natural gas, and Cenovus Energy (Toronto symbol CVE), which specializes in oil sands projects, oil refineries and conventional natural gas. Low gas prices weighed on results As a separate company, Encana’s revenue fell 4.5% in 2011, to $8.5 billion from $8.9 billion in 2010 (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). That’s because new techniques, such as horizontal drilling, have unlocked large amounts of shale gas. This has boosted inventories and cut prices. Earnings fell 33.3%, to $0.54 a share (or a total of $398 million) from…