Better efficiency is set to pay off

Article Excerpt

CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $17 is a buy. Canada’s third-largest oil producer (Toronto symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $30.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield 4.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cenovus.com) expects to spend between $4.6 billion and $5.0 billion on exploration and upgrades in 2025. Part of that spending will go toward improving the reliability of its refineries, particularly those in Lima and Toledo, Ohio. The company expects these upgrades will increase the capacity utilization rate of its refineries by 13% between 2023 and 2025. That should drive down their operating expenses per barrel by 20% over that time. Cenovus’s cash flow will probably total $4.00 a share in 2025, and the stock trades at just 4.3 times that forecast. The $0.72 dividend yields 4.2%. Cenovus Energy is a buy. buy…