Investment Q&A

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

Q: Could you please compare TVE and BIR for growth and income. Do their fundamentals differ significantly to favour one outperforming the other over a 3-5 year period.
For a mid to higher risk investor, what other names in oil and gas would you consider that might provide higher returns?

Q: Bought zwu at 10.79. Is there a chance of a rebound here or a sell. Have a fairly large position in bir. at average of 8.45. Your thoughts. Have no dfn. your opinion on this stock surviving. thanks

Q: Could you please advise what percentages of there production is in oil, in gas, and in liquids for companies pey, arx, bir, tou, and ovv. Seeing that the new gas pipeline to the coast is expected to begin operations in early 2024 for LNG, I wonder which of these 5 companies is best suited to take advantage of this pipeline, or any other company that comes to mind. Many tnx.

Q: In your answer to Donald on 05 September regarding Birchcliff Energy you stated " BIR has more than $3B in oil/gas reserves " -- hopefully it has a lot more , surely you meant 3 Billion boe ( barrels of oil ) ?equivalent

Q: Thoughts on BIR. I was thinking of buying more, but I believe the current dividend is not sustainable without incurring more debt, so do you think they will reduce it until NG prices pick up? If so, will the price drop, or do you think the possibility is already priced in? Is their balance sheet good? And finally, what are their reserves like? Thanks!

Q: Do you think conditions for Nat Gas to go higher from here over next 1-2 years is likely?

I currently hold position in PEY as my only nat gas exposure (2% weighting). Looking to increase that exposure for income and growth, so wondering which of BIR or TOU you would choose to hold over 2-3 year timeframe? Or, would positions in both, or perhaps another nat gas stock, make sense alongside PEY? Thx