Three Upstream Companies Contend with the Shale Treadmill

Image Source: Marathon Oil Corporation — Fourth-quarter IR presentation. Global oil prices are climbing back up again and that got us thinking about three of the biggest independent upstream players in America’s shale patch. By Callum Turcan Global oil prices are rising and that has gotten us thinking about upstream players EOG Resources Inc (EOG), Noble Energy Inc (NBL), and Marathon Oil Corporation (MRO). All three of these companies possess domestic and international producing operations, with unconventional upstream opportunities in America providing a key growth generator as market conditions allow. Stronger realizations will lead to improving financial performance on a sequential basis, but ultimately, valuations are based on price expectations over decades not quarters. This generally makes valuing upstream firms … Read more

Occidental Petroleum: Flexible Capital Allocation Strategies

Image Source: Occidental Petroleum Corporation Occidental Petroleum laid out a plan to generate positive free cash flow at various price points in 2019, and management has shown a willingness to adjust spending levels in the past. Let’s dig into the framework Occidental has established for how it can adjust effectively to changes in raw energy resource prices. By Callum Turcan Capital Spending Changes and Dividend Coverage One of the hardest tasks raw energy resource producers face is managing their cash flow positions. Volatile operating cash flow from upstream operations makes setting capital expenditure budgets and paying out dividends a difficult task, especially if the goal is to cover those cash outlays within internally generated funds. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) offsets … Read more

Valuentum Stock Screeners

This article was sent to members via email December 29. That email can be accessed at the link that follows this article. By Brian Nelson, CFA Hi everyone, I wanted to provide an update with respect to Valuentum’s stock screeners. We believe our stock screeners are among the most robust when it comes to providing forward-looking data, or data that is important with respect to the investment decision-making process. We publish screens in each of the monthly newsletters, but we also provide a basic weekly screener for download on the left column of the website, “Download Weekly Stock Screener (xls) — login required.”   We also have other products. The more robust DataScreener, for example, is part of the quarterly Financial … Read more

Market Mayhem — Alerts for Members

During these extremely volatile times, it’s important to stay focused. On December 15, we informed all of our members to “Pay Attention.” Shortly thereafter, we notified members of the potential for a stock market technical breakdown. This morning, we offered a pre-market briefing about the importance of thinking about portfolio protection. For Best Ideas Newsletter and Dividend Growth Newsletter members: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?preview=true&m=1110817109903&ca=e2406cd6-c113-4344-8731-493f33fc44a4&id=preview For High Yield Dividend Newsletter members: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?preview=true&m=1110817109903&ca=b3ba530f-38b3-489a-ac96-2961dca89c6b&id=preview For Exclusive members: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?preview=true&m=1110817109903&ca=ba6d90c0-4433-48b2-9b8a-aac4ddf9006e&id=preview We’re here for any questions. Please just let us know how we can help! Kind regards, Brian Nelson, CFA  brian@valuentum.com

Encana Adds Attractive Assets with Purchase of Newfield Exploration

Image Source: Encana third-quarter presentation Encana already holds a nice presence in some of the most attractive oil-producing regions in North America, and its merger agreement with Newfield Exploration should only add to its appealing portfolio of unconventional plays. By Callum Turcan Encana Corporation (ECA) is a growing upstream oil & gas producer with operations in Canada and the United States. The firm’s two biggest targets in Canada are the Duvernay and Montney shale plays, and in the US, Encana is primarily focused on developing the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford plays. What all four of these regions have in common is they yield wells with a high-liquids production mix, allowing Encana to directly capitalize on the uneven and wobbly … Read more

ETF Analysis: Energy

Please select the image below to download the report.

Valuentum’s Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) Distribution

The weighted average cost of capital is one of the most subjective measures in corporate finance, but it is also one of the most important ones. “The most important item over time in valuation is obviously interest rates…If interest rates are destined to be at low levels…It makes any stream of earnings from investments worth more money. The bogey is always what government bonds yield….Any investment is worth all the cash you’re going to get out between now and judgment day discounted back. The discounting back is affected by whether you choose interests rates like those of Japan or interest rates like those we had in 1982…When we had 15 percent short-term rates in 1982, it was silly to pay … Read more

Study: Valuentum’s Best Ideas Newsletter Portfolio

To read the study, please click on the image to download the pdf document (pdf).

Oil Majors Benefit from Higher Energy Resource Prices

Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron reported improved earnings and cash flow during the first quarter of 2018, thanks largely to higher realized energy resource pricing. The group may be better positioned for further bottom-line expansion moving forward as volume growth is expected to continue over the course of the year. By Kris Rosemann Key Takeaways Crude oil markets continue to improve, and higher realized prices are benefitting major oil producers, but geopolitical uncertainty and strong growth in US production continue to cast shadows over the space. The unpredictable nature of commodity prices, and the geopolitical uncertainty that sometimes drives them, will never go away. Exxon Mobil’s earnings and free cash flow generation improved thanks to higher realized prices, and its … Read more

ICYMI: Valuentum’s Improved Stock and ETF Web Pages

Valuentum has rolled out improved stock and ETF web pages on its website valuentum.com/. Now, subscribers can access key proprietary information on the stock and ETF web pages in addition to the customary stock and ETF reports. Dear reader, We have some exciting news that we can’t wait to share with you! At valuentum.com/, we have rolled out new stock and ETF pages that conveniently include a variety of our proprietary metrics from the Dividend Cushion ratio to the Economic Castle rating and beyond! There’s even mouseover functionality so you can learn about how we define the key metrics across our stock-selection and dividend growth methodologies. You’ll still have access to the stock and dividend reports on the landing pages, … Read more