
TSE:SU
A high-quality oil sands producer. Good strong balance sheet that is able to withstand a weak environment. Because it is a big liquid oil stock, it is going to get battered around with oil prices. If you have a very long-term time horizon, it will definitely be a survivor. You could add to it or stick your toe in a little, but wouldn’t back up the truck.
Thinks that 6 months from now oil prices will be higher than they are now, but in the interim, they may be lower. The Saudis are pumping to beat the band. With the deal in Iran there is a possibility of more oil coming into the world market. On the other hand, drilling has fallen off and production is starting to drop in North America and inventory levels have been dropping. He would prefer Crescent Point (CPG-T) or PrairieSky Royalty (PSK-T), although this is a very good solid company.
Has been writing Covered Calls against most of the oil companies he owns. Likes this as a strategy because if oil companies are doing well, very often the economy is not doing so well. Oil companies tend to be in the top quartile, or certainly in the top half, i.e. higher volatility stocks. He is writing covered calls into December of this year.
Even though oil has fallen a lot, people think this is cheap now, but it is actually trading 8.3X EV to discounted adjusted cash flow. The five-year average is 6.7. This is a great company. They cut their costs a lot. Their oil sands operational expense was $20.40 last quarter, which was much better than he thought. Refining numbers look good. There is steady progress with their mega projects. Most importantly, their debt levels are really, really good. However, cash flows have fallen dramatically. He sees them coming up 2016 over 2015 with $60 oil. He doesn’t think this is game on, unless you have higher oil prices. There are better places elsewhere over the next 12 months.
A solid business that generates a lot of free cash flow, with a very defensive business downstream. If you are going to own a very large oil sands company that has very defensive characteristics, this might be the one to hold. Wait for fundamentals to improve. He has practically a zero percent weighting in energy.
Probably one of the 2 names on the senior side that he would tend to own in his dividend portfolios. He prefers this and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ-T) for growth as well as for costs and efficiency of capital. Outside of the dividend, this is not one that you buy for growth. One of the better run companies out there.
Biggest integrated energy company in Canada and the 5th biggest in North America. If one is concerned about the environmental impact of the oil sands, this company has always been the good citizen. The stock price has gone nowhere in the past 5 years, but they have been growing their production very substantially, up to over 400,000 barrels a day, and have more fields coming on which will add an additional 80,000 by the end of 2017. Well positioned to wait out a prolonged period of lower oil prices. Dividend yield of 3.07%.
2/3rds of revenue comes from gas sales and refining. These profits have never been better. Drilling and oil sands are what is not doing well. You want to be buying at about $28-31. We are near the bottom of the range.