Deal helps move more oil

Article Excerpt

CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $12 (Toronto symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $14.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.cenovus.com) acquired 100% of its main oil sands properties in Alberta—Christina Lake and Foster Creek—in May 2017. It did that through its purchase of the 50% stake held by its partner in the project, ConocoPhillips (New York symbol COP), for $17.7 billion in cash and stock. Due to that purchase, Cenovus’s production in the second quarter of 2018 jumped 60.6%, to 518,530 barrels a day (82% oil, 18% gas) from 322,792 barrels a year earlier. In response to a lack of new pipeline capacity, the company has reportedly signed a new deal with CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $112 (Toronto symbol CNR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 733.8 million; Market cap: $82.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.2; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cn.ca). Cenovus aims to ship 50,000 to 60,000 barrels of…