Focus on debt repayment cuts risk

Article Excerpt

PRECISION DRILLING CORP. $3.88 (Toronto symbol PD; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resource sector; Shares outstanding: 293.2 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend suspended in March 2016; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.precisiondrilling. com) provides contract drilling services to land-based oil and gas pro ducers, mainly in North America. The company operates 256 rigs. Precision plans to spend $119 million in 2017 to build new rigs and make other upgrades. After deducting those costs, the company should generate free cash flow of around $79 million for all of 2017. Precision will probably use most of those funds to pay down its total debt of $1.9 billion (as of March 31, 2017). That figure is a high 1.4 times the company’s currently depressed market cap. Precision Drilling is still a buy. buy…