Precision Drilling ups capital spending

Article Excerpt

PRECISION DRILLING CORP. $5.99 (Toronto symbol PD; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resource sector; Shares outstanding: 293.2 million; Market cap: $1.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend suspended in March 2016; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; www.precisiondrilling.com) provides contract-drilling services to land-based oil and gas producers, mainly in North America. The company operates 253 rigs. Precision now plans to spend $220 million building new rigs and making other upgrades in 2016. That’s up 8.9% from its earlier forecast of $202 million. The increase is because the company has seen greater demand for its new Super Triple rigs; they can reach deeper pockets of oil and gas than traditional rigs. Moreover, that spending increase is backed by specific customer contracts, which cuts the risk. Precision Drilling is still a buy. buy…