Suncor fends off activist

Article Excerpt

SUNCOR ENERGY INC. $46 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol SU; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.44 billion; Market cap: $66.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 4.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.suncor.com) is Canada’s largest integrated oil firm, with major projects in the Alberta oil sands. It also operates four refineries, along with 1,875 Petro-Canada gas stations. Activist investment firm Elliott Management, which owns 3.4% of Suncor’s shares, wants the company sell or spin off its network of gas stations. Elliott feels this would boost Suncor’s share price to $60, or 30% more than the current price. Suncor has rejected the proposal and will hang on to the gas stations. However, it does plan to sell its offshore properties near the U.K. and Norway, as well as wind-energy operations. The company is also increasing your quarterly dividend by 11.9%. Starting with the June 2022 payment, investors will receive $0.47 a share instead of $0.42. The new annual rate of $1.88 yields a high…