Higher cash flow on tap for Cenovus

Article Excerpt

CENOVUS ENERGY INC. $22 is a buy. Canada’s third-largest oil producer (Toronto symbol CVE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $39.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield 3.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cenovus.com) expects to spend between $4.5 billion and $5.0 billion in 2024 on exploration and upgrades. Those investments will lift the company’s full-year output to between 785,000 and 810,000 barrels a day (its oil sands projects in Alberta account for 76% of that total). The midpoint of that range—797,500 barrels—is 3.4% higher than its third quarter production of 771,000 barrels a day. As well, Cenovus continues to improve efficiency and cut its production costs. As a result, its cash flow will probably rise 4% to $4.85 a share in 2025. The stock trades at just 4.5 times that forecast. The $0.72 dividend yields 3.3%. Cenovus is a buy. buy. …