Imperial closes a key shale gas deal

Article Excerpt

IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $43 (Toronto symbol IMO; Conservative Growth Portfolio; Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $36.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.imperialoil.ca) has completed its purchase of 50% of Celtic Exploration Ltd. from its parent company, ExxonMobil Corp. (New York symbol XOM). Celtic owns large undeveloped shale gas deposits along the B.C.-Alberta border. These fields hold a total of 128 million barrels of oil equivalent. At the end of 2012, Imperial’s proved reserves totalled 3.6 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The company paid $1.55 billion for its half of Celtic. That’s equal to 42% of the $3.7 billion, or $4.42 a share, that it earned in 2012. Imperial Oil is a buy. buy…