Topic: How To Invest

Pat: I will start off by thanking you for all of your help over the years, and I look forward to many more successful ones. I would like your advice on Linn Energy. This stock has dropped in the last few months, and I wonder if it is worth hanging on to. Your input would be appreciated.

Article Excerpt

Linn Energy, $13.13, symbol LINE on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 331.9 million; Market cap: $4.4 billion; www.linnenergy.com), acquires and develops oil and gas properties in the Mid-Continent region in the southern U.S., the Permian Basin (Texas and New Mexico) and the Hugoton Basin (Texas and Kansas), as well as in California, Michigan and Illinois. In December 2013, Linn bought Berry Petroleum for $4.3 billion in stock. The move added long-lasting, mature properties and boosted Linn’s growth prospects. Berry’s reserves were roughly 75% oil. Linn’s shares have dropped lately, along with oil and gas prices, despite the fact that its average daily oil and gas production rose 51% in the third quarter of 2014 from a year earlier. In response to the oil price drop, Linn has cut its 2015 capital budget by 53%, to $730 million from $1.55 billion in 2014. It is also lowering its annual dividend to $1.25 a share from $2.90 in 2014. That gives the stock a 9.5% yield, but…