Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, Canadian energy trust Penn West Energy Trust
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Penn West's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Penn West facts
| Headquarters (Founded) | Calgary, Canada (1979) |
| Market Cap | $10.6 billion |
| Industry | Oil and gas exploration and production |
| Trailing-12-Month Revenue | $2.5 billion |
| Management |
CEO William Andrew (since 2005) CFO Todd Takeyasu (since 2006) |
| Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) | 6.9% |
| Trailing Dividend Yield | 4.6% |
| Competitors |
EnCana
Suncor Energy |
Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 97% of the 1,397 members who have rated Penn West believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Star mikecart1, who is ranked in the top 5% of our community, and Harptree.
Just last month, mikecart1 tapped Penn West as an ideal way to make some income: "Returns are nothing short of outstanding. Solid energy company that is diversified. What more can you ask for? Oh yeah a sick dividend play too."
Despite a recent distribution cut from $0.15 to $0.09 -- Penn West will convert to a corporation in 2011 due to the new tax levied on Canadian trusts -- the stock remains one of our community's favorite income opportunities. Even with the reduced payout, Penn West still sports a higher dividend yield (4.6%) than rivals EnCana (2.9%) and Suncor (1.1%), as well as energy behemoths Chevron
CAPS member Harptree elaborates on the bull case :
I realize the distributions have gone down due to oil prices and the trust conversion, however, please keep in mind we Americans are looking at a Canadian company through U.S. eyes. ... My point being, Canadians are running [Penn West] and similar companies for the benefit of the unitholders/ shareholders and not for the benefit of upper management. I truly believe the leadership of [Penn West] is going to do what is right for the shareholder over the long haul. This is a great company in the energy business on friendly soil and I feel the reserves are stated at a conservative 50%.
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