Sell this oil producer

Article Excerpt

PENN WEST $1.17 (Toronto symbol PWT; Shs. o/s: 502.2 million; Market cap: $582.5 million; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; No dividends paid; www.pennwest.com) has sold oilproducing properties worth over $1 billion since the start of 2015. Even so, its debt is still a very high $1.9 billion, or 3.3 times its market cap. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, Penn West’s production fell 20.3%, to an average of 77,398 barrels per day from 97,143. Cash flow per share fell sharply, to just $7.0 million, or $0.01 a share, from $137.0 million, or $0.28 a share. Penn West may still need to sell more assets to meet scheduled debt repayments. But without significantly higher oil and gas prices, those sales will further cut its already low cash flow. Penn West is a sell. sell…