Investment Q&A

Q: With the prices of some oil stocks down significantly in the past 6 months, do you think that some of the larger companies (SU, CNQ, etc) would want to take over some of the smaller players at a nice discount? A bit speculative, but can you identify some of the smaller takeover candidates?

Q: Hi 5i
Do you have news associated with recent uptick in BIR, almost 18% in last two days.

thx

Q: I own these energy stocks and some are on the plus side and others are on the losing side. I've been waiting for quite some time for the Chinese economy to take off, but it seems to go nowhere ? I would like to trim some of my holdings. Please place them in order of what you would keep down to some you would let go. Maybe you could code them as 10 being the best and 1 as being the worst. Thanks.

Q: I gambled on these 4 energy stocks last year and other than Pine Cliff Energy I'm down around about 1/3. I'm thinking of averaging down. What would you do if you owned these 4?

Q: Would you think TAL is worthy of a 2% investment after their 2024 budget announcement and is the Dividend safe?
How do they compare to other similar sized oil companies in Canada?

Q: Hi 5I
Regarding anthony questions , Not withstanding that BIR is surely in the doghouse, is it worth a second look now and at what price would you consider it worth the risk/reward.

CEO stated in interview yesterday that the lower dividend was sustainable for next number of years....opinion? Is this the ceo responsible for reinstating initial dividend?


Thx
Jim

Q: Reading recent comments on Birchcliff Energy 5i didn’t think a dividend cut was imminent and you felt they would issue debt to fund the dividend if need be. Just curious as to the rationale for this opinion. Also, do you feel Bir is good buy at these reduced levels? Finally, In light of today’s dividend cut and significant drop is this company now a prime candidate for a takeover and if so then why?

Q: Which is your pick of these 3? BIR just cut their dividend. Thanks.

Q: Would you be able to provide information on which companies are expected to benefit the most from exporting their natural gas through the west coast LNG? What is the expected timing for this benefit to show up in their financial results?
Thank you

Q: It has been a long while since I have owned Birchcliff Energy (BIR) and I was shocked to see it trading for less tham $6. The dividend yield is nearly 14 per cent. I understand that at 2.50 natural gas pricing that BIR has to use leverage to maintain the 20 cent per quarter dividend. I remember about a year ago BIR was debt free so I don't image their debt is that high. I also remember Jeff Tonkin saying that the dividend was almost sacrosanct. So I few questions. Is Tonkin still the COE or has he retired or stepped up to be on the BOD? Is the debt level of BIR still low? At 2.50 gas (I know BIR never used to hedge so I assume they are gettting spot pricing) how much debt per quarter must BIR use in order to maintain the current dividend and spend enough to keep production flat? Do you think they will resize, that is, cut the dividend? And if they cut do you thin they would do an NCIB and start to buy back the shares from their depressed levels?

Q: Pays big Dividend and price continues down. Should we bail or will someone buy them out and save us. Down about 40%.

Q: I hold the following energy stocks: BIR, CNQ, CPG ,PPL, SU, TOU, TVE AND WCP.
It represents 12.2% of my portfolio. Is this a fair portion. too high , too low??
If to high what would you suggest to sell. Could you also rate these as for sustainability and return going forward.

Thanks in advance.

Q: According to Graham's The Intelligent Investor one way to make money is to buy companies selling for less than book value. In previous responses 5i has said that book value can be somewhat tricky because while some companies have measurable hard assets others have a large amount of goodwill which is somewhat intangible and difficult to measure. I see that BIR now has a price to book value ratio of .69 suggesting that an investor can buy one dollar's worth of the company for 69 cents. I have two questions. First, is BIR one of those companies with measurable hard assets that are now underpriced? Second, is the massive dividend sustainable?

Thanks as always for your expertise and Merry Christmas to everyone at 5i.

Q: Peyto vs Birchcliff - if you can pick only one which one and why?

Q: In a recent answer about BIR's drop following its quarterly release: "Considering strong growth is still expected in 2024, the stock's decline seems a bit harsh to us. The balance sheet also remains in excellent shape. We would be fine holding."
I'm curious if you would buy at this level or hold off for now. If holding off what would you like to see happen before buying?
Thanks-you.

Q: Peter I own Birchcliff. Your thoughts 0n its recent quarter please. Is the cash flow paying the dividends or is it over paying??? The market does not like it Thanks Ken

Q: Hello,
I own above stocks, and with the current conflict in the middle east, which one(s) would you add to today? assuming oil hovers around current price of ~ $ 80.00.
Also, which ones are rumored for a take over?
As well, which ones have the strongest financials to grow the dividend?

Thanks
Carlo

Q: What are your thoughts on BIR? It has lagged for the year and more so over
the past month. The dividend is in question, I recall $70 oil and $3 gas covers it. Is there any rationale to it being in question?

The other news I see is a new CEO coming in Jan, any thoughts on this?

Would you buy in here or would it be safe to wait for tax loss selling later in the year?

Q: I currently own each of these oil & gas industry stocks. Are they well positioned for any potential consolidation/takeover activity that is rumored to occur as a followup from the XOM Pioneer story? Which firms are best positioned for takeover/merger/consolidation?

Q: Good morning
I’m interested in taking a position natural gas suppliers. What companies beside Birchcliff would you suggest looking into?
Thankyou Les