Two buys for natural gas gains

Article Excerpt

PEYTO EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT CORP. $39.25 (Toronto symbol PEY; Shares outstanding: 153.7 million; Market cap: $6.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 3.1%; www.peyto.com) produces and explores for oil and natural gas in Alberta. Its average daily production of 72,209 barrels of oil equivalent is 90% gas and 10% oil. In the quarter ended March 31, 2014, Peyto’s cash flow rose 53.6%, to $1.06 a share from $0.69 a year earlier. That’s because the company raised its production by 30.4%. Gas prices also gained 27.5%, to an average of $4.45 per thousand cubic feet from $3.49, while oil prices rose 6.1%, to $80.49 a barrel from $75.88. Peyto plans to spend $625 million on exploration and development in 2014, which will let it drill 110 to 125 wells. To put that in context, the company spent $578 million to drill 99 wells in 2013. The stock trades at 10.0 times Peyto’s forecast 2014 cash flow of $3.92 a share. The company’s long-term…