Topic: Growth Stocks

BELLATRIX EXPLORATION $6.97 – Toronto symbol BXE

BELLATRIX EXPLORATION $6.97 (Toronto symbol BXE; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-266- 8670; www.bellatrixexploration.com; Shares outstanding: 107.9 million; Market cap: $756.5 million; No dividends paid) produces natural gas (70% of output) and oil (30%) in Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan.

Bellatrix continues to enter into joint ventures to speed up the development of its Cardium shale oil deposits in west-central Alberta.

It has agreed to sell a 50% interest in its producing wells in the Ferrier and Willesden Green area to Daewoo International Corp. and Devonian Natural Resources Private Equity Fund for $52.5 million.

These wells produce 268 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Bellatrix’s total output averaged 22,102 barrels of oil equivalent a day (including gas) in the three months ended June 30, 2013. That’s up 33.4% from 16,569 barrels a year earlier. Cash flow per share increased 41.7%, to $0.34 from $0.24.

Following the sale, Daewoo and Devonian will invest $100 million in a multi-year program to drill 70 new wells on the Ferrier and Willesden Green properties. Bellatrix will match that spending, and the jointventure partners will share in any new production.

On top of that, Bellatrix plans to spend a total of $235 million on exploration and development this year. That will let it end 2013 with production as high as 30,000 to 31,000 barrels a day.

The stock is up 64% for us so far this year, but it still trades at just 4.6 times the company’s estimated 2013 cash flow of $1.50 a share. Its cash flow is forecast to rise to $2.35 a share in 2014, and the stock trades at just 2.8 times that figure.

Bellatrix is a buy for aggressive investors.

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