Topic: How To Invest

ENERPLUS CORP. $10.14 – Toronto symbol ERF

ENERPLUS CORP. $10.14 (Toronto symbol ERF; Shares outstanding: 206.2 million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 5.9%) produces an average of 100,855 barrels of oil equivalent a day (57% gas and 43% oil). Its properties are mainly in Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C., North Dakota and Montana, as well as in the Marcellus shale, which passes through Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.

Enerplus’s production rose 2.1% in the quarter ended March 31, 2015, but that wasn’t enough to offset sharply lower oil and gas prices; cash flow per share fell 51.4%, to $0.53 from $1.09.

Like ARC, Enerplus will cut spending this year. Its outlays will now total $480 million, down 40.8% from $811.0 million in 2014.

The lower spending, plus Enerplus’s plan to produce less gas in the Marcellus shale until prices rise, will cut its forecast 2015 production to around 96,500 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

Enerplus is forecast to generate cash flow of $2.57 a share in 2015, based on today’s low oil and gas prices, down from $4.20 in 2014. The stock trades at 3.9 times this year’s estimate.

The company cut its monthly dividend by 44.4% with the April 2015 payment, to $0.05 from $0.09. The new rate gives the stock a 5.9% yield.

Enerplus Corp. is a hold.

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