Canadian Oil Sands (COS.TO)

Doesn’t see a lot of risk or upside in this stock. Very high quality operations. Prefers others.

Canadian Oil Sands (COS-T) or Suncor (SU-T)? Growth potential in this one is probably higher. They are both in the same projects but Canadian Oil Sands does not have other assets.

Good place to look for yield. Issues that have been faced by oil in the western basin have largely been them trying to get oil to market at a world price. Right now discounts are very, very high. Look at this as a manufacturing business to a significant degree. If you can get in at a low point, then you are probably in good shape on a yield basis over time. This would be a good long-term play but other things have been better and he wouldn’t put all his eggs in this company.

Largest investor in Syncrude, which is the largest investor in the oil Sands. Feels the weakness is because of the differential between Canadian and US prices. Also, they do not have a refinery so they are at the mercy of the markets when it comes to prices. Higher oil prices are here to stay and this will benefit from that. 7.04% yield.

Big question for all oil sands companies has to do with getting their product to market. If the US president approves that Keystone pipeline, that will be very positive for these companies. Or if the outlet to the West Coast is approved. Absent that, we are going to see the discount on oil sands crude simply because of the transportation bottleneck.

Not confident that the 7% dividend will hold. Have a fairly significant capital expenditure program ahead of them, which will probably impinge on their cash flow. He would recommend Crescent Point (CPG-T) which has about the same dividend and is in light oil. Also, it is closer to markets.

Always found this one very expensive. Had a high cash flow multiple relative to the growth rate but at current levels it is kicking out 7% yield. Great purchase at these levels.

Has been a very disappointing performer over the last few years, partially because of oil prices. Should have done a lot better because it holds 37% of Syncrude. It uses gas to boil up the oil sands, so with cheap gas and oil holding at a reasonable price, its margins have actually been increasing. This is the biggest position in Syncrude with no controlling shareholder and would be an obvious takeout. 7.1% dividend yield.

Kind of bouncing along a support level of around $18.70. Chart shows what could be a descending triangle. If there is a breakout, he would be quite bullish on this but he would wait for the breakout.

There have been a lot of questions about the oil sands development. If you are a very long term holder it will do very well. You can get better exposure through some more diversified plays in the oil patch. But this one is a very long term play. What really hurt recently was the pullback in the price of crude and there has been so much inflation in the development costs in the last few years. There are better plays in the oil patch.

Be careful of the oil stands producers. Focus on energy infrastructure rather than producing companies.

A bit too big. No growth. Pays a dividend. If you want the same assets, buy SU-T, even though it has a lower dividend.

He is a long-term believer in the oil sands. The problem has been that costs have come up quite a bit at the same time that the bottleneck of getting synthetic crude into the refiners in the Midwest US has been hampered by pipeline capacity.

6.8% dividend. If you think oil prices are going up this is good for a 3-5 year position. He’d rather own Cenovus (CVE-T) which is an operator and has refineries on the side. Good company.

This one gives you a yield. It is very impacted by the movement in the price of oil and the politics related to the oil sands. Very high beta relative to the commodity price. This or Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ-T) are good names to own if you want a long-term commitment to the oil sands. (See Top Picks.)