The market is full of highs and lows, and savvy investors know when to jump on a good deal. Could these three companies with 52-week lows be a good bet?
1. Talisman Energy
Oil and gas company Talisman Energy (TSX: TLM)(NYSE: TLM) hit a new 52-week low of $10.62 on July 11. The company is facing a troubling summer as forest fires are currently raging in northeast B.C. The fires have already led to the evacuation of Talisman’s Ojay gas plant, cutting off 2,000 to 3,000 boe/day of production. This loss of production comes after an announcement in June to sell its stakes in two Australian oil fields. These sales would reduce Talisman’s total production by another 6,000 boe/day. Talisman also announced it would be selling its stake in the Kitan oil field for $18 million.
Talisman is making these changes to help satisfy investors who have been less than impressed with the overall performance of the company, which has lagged behind its Canadian competitors. The stock appears to have limited growth over the next year, with the average price target only sitting at $13. This is down from the $14.50 that was projected in June.
2. Newfoundland Capital Corp.
Nova Scotia-based Newfoundland Capital Corp (TSX: NCC.A) hit a new 52-week low of $7.80 on July 8. The company operates the second-largest radio broadcast network, just behind BCE (TSX: BCE)(NYSE: BCE). The 95-station-strong company is primarily based in Atlantic Canada and Alberta, but managed to pick up a handful of stations in Vancouver and Toronto from BCE’s Astral Media division at a price of $111.9 million.
The price to purchase these lucrative stations pushed Q1 profits into the red, but the additional advertising revenue and access to these metropolitan populations should turn those results around. The stock has a very narrow 52-week range of $7.80 to $10 and an average price target of only $9.
3. Oryx Petroleum Corporation
Oil exploration company Oryx Petroleum Corporation (TSX: OXC) has drilled down to a new 52-week low of $11.19 on July 11. The company is based in Canada but engages its efforts in Africa and the Middle East. Oryx has interests in seven license areas prospective for oil and is the operator or technical partner in four of the seven license areas. A factor that is making investors uneasy is the current unrest in the nation of Iraq, where Oryx has two license areas: one located in the Kurdistan Region and the other in the Wasit Governorate.
This 52-week low price of $11.19 also falls just below the most recent underwritten public offering of 19.9 million shares at $11.25 for a total of $223 million, with the Addax and Oryx Group Limited purchasing $159 million worth of available shares.
The stock has an attractive average price target of $18.60, but this can change at any moment depending on how events unfold in Iraq. This is especially important for Oryx’s operations, as it has revealed that production at its Demir Dagh field in Kurdistan is currently estimated at 4,000 bbl/d. This is a relatively young area as the first off-takes of crude have just hit the market on June 23rd.
