Big decision looms for TRP

Article Excerpt

TRANSCANADA CORP. $61.94 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 800.3 million; Market cap: $53.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.2%; www.transcanada.com) operates a 91,500-kilometre pipeline network that pumps natural gas from Alberta to eastern Canada and the U.S. Its other operations include 4,250 kilometers of crude oil pipelines and power plants in Canada and the U.S. The company expects to make a final decision in December on whether to proceed with its Keystone XL pipeline project. That’s after Nebraska approved a modified route. The pipeline would still pump crude from Alberta to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. If TransCanada goes ahead with the project, Keystone XL could start up in late 2020. It would add as much as $0.30 a share to the company’s annual earnings. To put that into perspective, TransCanada made $0.70 a share in the latest quarter. The company would still need to finalize some smaller permits for Keystone and secure shipping contracts from oil producers; it would…