STOCKCHASE

There is a large cutback in the natural gas drilling which has had an effect on the stock price. Represents pretty good value at under $10 and could be well up in the mid teens in the next few years.

2012-01-23

BUY

9.670

Has pulled back significantly in price and represents extremely good value. Expects to see drilling activity pick up over the next 6 months or so. Day rates are getting better for drilling equipment.

2011-12-19

Comment

9.780

Dennis Da Silva

Likes the overall trend in terms of a pickup in activity and how this company plays into it but more of a fan on pure service companies rather than the drillers because of the needs for fracing as opposed to drilling. Well-positioned.

2011-12-15

DON'T BUY

10.570

Barry Schwartz

Fantastic company with a terrific suite of assets. Doing very well in this environment with all the drilling for natural gas. Have concerns about where natural gas is going in the future. Reserves are off the charts, storage is off the charts and the price is low. Too volatile a sector for him.

2011-12-12

TOP PICK

11.790

Eric Nuttall

Tremendous amount of confusion and misinformation on spending for 2012. Also concern about margin erosion in the US. Even in the worst case scenario the stock is more than discounting this. Trading at 4.3X cash flow while the historical is 5 to 9 with a long-term average of 6.5. If you knock it down to 6, it is a $17 stock. Strongly good balance sheet.

2011-11-30

DON'T BUY

11.600

James Hodgins

A leader in oil/gas drilling in North America. Feels that oil prices will be dropping. There will be another cycle to own the drillers. They will start to bottom before oil and that will be the time to buy.

2011-10-20

BUY

10.810

Eric Nuttall

Service weighting in his fund is now 17%. Market has pummelled this area. CEO is seeing no slowdown in business. Trades at 4.1X 2012 EBITDA where the historical average is 6.1X.

2011-10-13

BUY

10.880

Don Lato

North American drillers? He would suggest 2. Precision Drilling (PD-T) and Trinidad (TDG-T). Both have moved a significant number of ratings down into the US in the last 2 years. This one has less risk exposure.

2011-09-21

WAIT

13.010

Don Vialoux

Very strong seasonality. Period of strength is usually from the end of January to around May of each year.

2011-09-02

BUY

11.640

Has been adding to his drillers at these prices. Valuation of the Canadian stocks is at a big discount to the US. With oil in the current range, drilling activities are still taking place.

2011-08-19

BUY on WEAKNESS

14.450

Bruce Campbell

This is the rig side of drilling in he is more interested in the fracers and pressure pumpers now i.e. the specialty drillers. These would include Calfrac (CFW-T) and Trican (TCW-T), especially on pullbacks.

2011-08-15

HOLD

16.920

All the drillers have been moving strongly. This sector looks really good right now. He prefers the fracing drillers more.

2011-07-25

BUY

15.170

Derek Webb, CFA

Rank very high in earnings momentum. Since April on, it has been trading in the channel of $13-$15. Currently it looks like it is getting ready to break out.

2011-07-20

HOLD

14.750

Mike S. Newton, CIM FCSI

As quality of reserves and discoveries goes down, explorers and producers need better technology and more sophisticated ways of accessing their discoveries.

2011-07-19

PARTIAL SELL

13.810

Jeff Parent B. Eng. FCSI

Seems to be trading in a range of between $13 and $15. Doesn't show a lot of signs of life and volume is very low. If you own, now is the time you should consider taking profits. Wait for $14.90-$15 before going into it.

2011-07-04

Comment

12.600

Bill Carrigan

Oil service stocks have been leaders of the energy sector and still are. Has had an A B C correction that is now completed and the sector should work higher. Still above the 200-day. You want it take out the previous highs. Watch the other drillers to make sure they are moving too.

2011-06-17

BUY

12.810

David Baskin

Good company and there is a lot of drilling going on. There are a lot of drill rigs out there. If oil continues to go down, there will be a slowdown in drilling. Feels oil is a little soft right now and it will probably head back over $100, so oil service firms are not a bad way to play this.

2011-06-16

Comment

12.950

Has done a lot better this year. Some of the traditional drilling companies lagged last year. Companies doing the fracing work had the fastest growth and this has now broadened out to others in the industry. Going forward he would prefer owning the fracing companies such as Trican (TCW-T) or Calfrac (CFW-T).

2011-06-13

BUY

13.890

Brian Acker, CA

Sees it going to about $20. Just bought it. Numbers look good. Model $21.68, 56% upside.

2011-06-09

Comment

14.730

Staying away from the drillers right now because he sees better value in some of the producers.

2011-06-02

Comment

14.750

Ron Meisels

In a nice up trend. It was a laggard. While the other oil stocks were moving this one was horizontal. Formed a nice base and has now moved up and above the 200 day moving average. Believes it has significantly higher upside targets.

2011-05-30

DON'T BUY

13.860

Laura Lau

Switch from Molycorp (MCP-N)? Depends on your risk tolerance. Moly is a more steady dividend payer while Precision ebbs and flows with oil field services. You typically want to Buy oil field services in November/December and Sell about now. Now coming into their worst quarter.

2011-05-09

DON'T BUY

14.330

Jaime Carrasco

Current price fully reflects the earnings out to 2012. Likes the drillers and the servicing companies but prefers others.

2011-04-29

Comment

14.180

Came a long way in a relatively short time. Lately day rates have gone up quite a bit on rigs resulting in the stock price moving up precipitously. Wouldn’t Buy at these prices, but hasn’t taken profits yet, but is considering doing so. Upside is limited.

2011-04-19

HOLD

13.980

David Cockfield

Oil and gas really took a hit and gas prices collapsed. Had a number of drilling companies with idle rigs. They have worked their way through that and now they’re making very good money on the rigs they have. Expect that drilling companies will continue to do well.

2011-04-15

Comment

13.670

Joseph Schachter

The leading and largest of the drilling companies. Have a great and new fleet. Currently trying to pay down their debt. Next, cash flow might go towards new rigs, etc. They will never be a high dividend paying security.

2011-04-14

STRONG BUY

13.190

Derek Webb, CFA

This is the top of his list of 3000 names right now. You cannot argue with the momentum of this stock. It’s just correcting back to its trend line. Now is the time to build to a full position.

2011-04-12

BUY

14.380

Michele Robitaille

Benefiting from a strong increase in activity the western Canadian sedentary basin as well as the US. Very strong in terms of rig count and activity. There is a lot of focus on drilling with oil going through $100. Doesn’t anticipate that they will reinstate a dividend soon.

2011-04-08

BUY

14.380

Jeff Parent B. Eng. FCSI

Run up since October is pretty straight. The only dip was about $1 in March. Great looking chart. Nice base last year. Fundamentals are extremely strong. $15-$16 is pretty easy. Exit point would be at $12.50. (See Top Picks.)

2011-04-08

Comment

13.830

Mike S. Newton, CIM FCSI

Oil prices are up. Looking for oil in safe areas of the world is the paramount thing for investors. This one has taken off and it’s difficult to get into. Consider a half position. You might also want to consider Trican Well Service (TCW-T) with 70% of their business in the fracturing business..

2011-04-04

BUY

12.150

Don Vialoux

Oil service seasonality is from end of Jan until end of May. Even though market is going lower, this one went into a 2.5 year high today. A big increase in the money being spend on oil services in 2011 from last year. Stick with it until May.

2011-03-18

BUY

11.730

Drillers and service sector will be a beneficiary for what’s going on. Exploration companies are going to hire drilling companies. Prefers Trican. This cycle has a long way to go.

2011-03-04

BUY

11.870

Veronika Hirsch

Wouldn’t be one of her all time favourite service companies but she likes it here. With present oil prices there will be lots of drilling. Cheap (See Top Picks.)

2011-03-02

BUY

11.390

Joanne A. Hruska, CFA

Has a lot of drilling rigs in the oil service sector. She has been very bullish on this sector for the last 6 months. She is still buying.

2011-02-25

HOLD

9.570

Michael Smedley

Similar chart to all the drillers. Went through a difficult time and has been successful since. He would prefer one of the other drillers, but hold it. Prefers TCW or Pheonix.

2011-01-07

PAST TOP PICK

9.610

2010-12-31

PAST TOP PICK

8.280

2010-11-11

WEAK BUY

8.000

Derek Webb, CFA

These stocks have not participated in the recovery. Prefers TCW.

2010-11-04

DON'T BUY

7.230

David Cockfield

Fairly significantly exposed to natural gas. 20% of their shallow rigs are not drilling. No dividend. Looks like it will be struggling for a while.

2010-10-13

PAST TOP PICK

7.060

(A Top Pick Nov 11/09. Down 1.23%.) Sold his holdings.

2010-10-04

DON'T BUY

6.440

Ben Cheng

Cardium, Monte frac and US frac plays have been very active but unfortunately, conventional wells have not been doing as well. Will depend on the commodity price.

2010-09-20

Comment

7.200

Don Lato

This would be his preference in their sector because of their size, exposure to both the Canadian and US drilling markets. Will be a long time before it gets back to the $25-$30 level.

2010-08-11

DON'T BUY

7.760

Not his favourite in the drilling. He would prefer the horizontal (fraqing) drillers. Generating decent cash flow. Less money is going into natural gas now.

2010-04-12

SELL

8.560

Laura Lau

Rig count peaked at 1600 and she thinks 900-1000 will be sufficient because horizontal drilling gives 3 or 4 times more production than vertical. Earnings are coming down. Could be a quick trade but she wouldn't hold it.

2010-02-08

HOLD

8.890

Mike S. Newton, CIM FCSI

Likes the drilling companies but we need a little more evidence of the global turnaround to really get going.

2010-02-02

WEAK BUY

8.570

Doesn't think there is a lot of upside in this one. Cheap and can ultimately go higher but in the drilling sector you want to be in things that are growing fast such as fraqing and shallow drilling plays. Gives a decent yield and valuation is relatively cheap.

2010-02-01

BUY

9.020

Oil service industry has not been robust in the last couple of years but going forward it should be in a better position. Likes it going forward for the long-term but would like it cheaper than what it is. If you have a three-year outlook, you could buy it today.

2010-01-27

TOP PICK

9.190

Oil patch is coming back and natural gas prices are strengthening so the well drilling business is on its way back. Have great financing. Has another huge leg up in it.

2010-01-25

Comment

9.080

Did reasonably well in the last 7-8 months. A little bit of upside left to go. Good news is integration of Grey Wolf acquisition, updating its fleet with deeper rigs and have a lot of assets in the West. Has a little bit of room to go but he is sceptical about natural gas prices holding beyond the next few months.

2010-01-22

BUY

9.500

Andrew Cook

Likes the oil/gas service sector and this is the largest public company. Sector has been ignored but with the pickup in natural gas this is a great way to play the resurgence.

2010-01-20

SELL

9.100

Ross Healy

(Market Call Minute.) Very poor potential. No income because they cut their pay out.

2010-01-11

DON'T BUY

7.910

Barry Schwartz

No longer pays distributions. Concerned about natural gas long-term and he is avoiding natural gas drilling stocks.

2010-01-04

HOLD

7.680

Bruce Campbell

(Market Call Minute.) Recovered somewhat. A lot of it is gas oriented. A hold at best.

2009-12-30

HOLD

7.680

David Driscoll

(Market Call Minute)

2009-12-29

BUY

7.290

One of the largest land-based drillers. Half of their 450 drills are in use. Tremendous upside leverage in this company. Hopefully they will restore the dividend at some point. He is looking at buying it.

2009-12-14

DON'T BUY

7.030

Rick Stuchberry

The key to this is when gas markets recover. An international company but still has a lot of drilling rigs in the Western Canadian basin, which is primarily gas. Until gas gets up in the $6-$7 range, there won't be a big influx of drilling.

2009-12-10

DON'T BUY

7.020

Don Lato

If there were an upturn in drilling, there would be a marked improvement in the price of this. That's a big if and when. It won't happen this winter. Have moved into some of the major shale plays in the US.

2009-12-09

SELL

7.180

Barry Schwartz

(Market Call Minute) Very worried about natural gas.

2009-12-02

HOLD

6.940

Has recently shown up on his radar screen. Selling at a modest multiple of what its normalized earnings would be. Looking attractive and potentially has some good upside.

2009-11-27

TOP PICK

7.300

Very large premium drilling company. Thinks the bottom in drilling is now past.

2009-11-11

DON'T BUY

7.570

Has cleaned up its balance sheets and done a lot of things right but think it's fairly valued here.

2009-11-09

Comment

7.110

Recovered quite a lot from its lows. Partially a reflection on the increased activity in the oil services patch. This is a leader in this field. Outlook for the business is quite good but expect distributions could be cut.

2009-10-14

DON'T BUY

7.440

Jennifer Stevenson

Should be one she loves, but when second quarter results came out they showed no penetration into the market.

2009-09-22

BUY

7.490

Ron Meisels

200-day moving average has intersected and the stock is starting to rise. May have a tiny pullback to about $6.80-$6.90 but expects it will be a significantly better than it has.

2009-09-18

DON'T BUY

7.430

David Burrows

Doesn't like exposure to drillers in Alberta gas. Has stayed focused on oil because the economics look very good. Would prefer something like Carbo Ceramics (CRR-N), which does gas for fraqing or equipment companies like FMC Technologies (FTI-N).

2009-09-14

BUY

6.950

Alexander Lane, B Comm, C

Believes natural gas market has turned and drillers are at the bottom of their cycle. This will be one of the worlds great drilling companies going forward. He owns Cathedral Energy (CET.UN-T). You should also look at Pason Systems (PSI-T) or Transocean (RIG-N).

2009-09-10

Comment

6.100

Rick Stuchberry

(Market Call Minute.) Drillers look very interesting here. Would buy Trinidad Drilling (TDG-T) before this one but we are entering a period when you can buy the drillers.

2009-08-27

BUY

6.150

Christine Poole

For the long-term perspective, this is a good entry point. Made a big acquisition last year, possibly at the worst time, but it expanded their exposure outside of Canada with some international. Drilling had a severe decline because of natural gas prices. She thinks, longer-term, natural gas prices will recover and drilling activity should improve.

2009-08-26

BUY

6.220

Gavin Graham

(Market Call Minute.) Has been awful because people have not been drilling wells in North America but it has bottomed out and the volume will start to increase.

2009-08-25

Comment

54.500

Benj Gallander

Would be wary. Debt load went up in 2008 giving them a huge debt load but they seem to be dealing with it well. Risky but might be worth it.

2009-08-07

DON'T BUY

5.220

Michael Simpson, CFA

Recently did a very dilutive equity issue and debt levels have come down. Short-term outlook for natural gas drilling is not very good. Questions management decisions. Expect there will be a better time to buy this.

2009-07-06

BUY on WEAKNESS

5.770

Got sufficient financing but now has to wait out the low level of drilling activity to start moving back up again. Great equipment and a very strong market presence. Expecting a corrective phase through the summer.

2009-06-29

Comment

5.510

Steve Carlin

Still cautious on the drilling outlook. Doesn't have a lot of upside potential on it. The big issue with them is the mountain of debt they acquired to make acquisitions. Also did a fairly dilutive equity deal to help pay down the debt.

2009-06-19

BUY

6.630

David Cockfield

Drillers have had a terrible time but with oil at $70 you will see more activity. Very volatile area. Likes the stock.

2009-06-05

DON'T BUY

5.790

Oil services have been extremely distressed. Not sure that market is likely to pick up that quickly.

2009-05-27

WAIT

5.570

Michele Robitaille

A little bit early for the oilfield service plays. Expect there will be a little bit of weakness going through the summer, which would be a better opportunity. Longer-term it is well positioned.

2009-05-22

DON'T BUY

5.880

Bill Harris, CFA

When there is this much capacity and drilling has come off this much, the leverage is actually with the E&P company. The whole market has to tighten up before the drillers actually get the margin on their side. Prices will still come down on the drillers. Drillers lag the industry by 2 years.

2009-05-19

DON'T BUY

5.980

Sandy McIntyre

(Market Call Minute.) Too much financial leverage. A commodity cyclical with a bad balance sheet.

2009-05-14

BUY on WEAKNESS

5.550

Joseph Schachter

We are in the spring break up when demand is at its lowest level. No reason to be chasing the stock right here.

2009-05-01

WAIT

5.400

Ben Cheng

Recently did a very significant financing with Alberta. Much better shape than 3 months ago

2009-04-27

DON'T BUY

5.410

Charles Lannon

Bad outlook for 12 months. Doesn’t suggest this. Distribution is not coming back any time soon.

2009-04-23

HOLD

4.460

Had a nice run. Bounced back in what looked to be like a death watch on it. The challenge is, it is gas weighted.

2009-04-14

DON'T BUY

4.250

Joseph Schachter

Biggest driller in Canada, but the utilization of this industry is down to very low levels. Has quite a debt load. Stock will languish until there is a recovery in gas prices. Will be a survivor.

2009-04-06

WAIT

3.600

Ben Stadelmann

Think they will survive and there will have to be a lot more drilling done. Chart indicates it is bottoming. Entry point would be a little further on when the worst of the recession is over.

2009-04-01

DON'T BUY

3.090

A premier player and will do well once drilling activity picks up. More bullish on oil itself and the big internationals such as Talisman (TLM-T), Nexen (NXY-T), Suncor (SU-T) and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ-T). Drilling sector will lag. (See Top Picks.)

2009-03-16

WAIT

2.950

Jaime Carrasco

If you have a long-term horizon, drilling will pick up at some point. It has to come back. Probably not a bad time, but when will there earnings show? Thinks it's still early.

2009-03-13

DON'T BUY

2.960

Bruce Campbell

Doesn't like the drillers because nobody wants to drill with the low oil price environment. There is also a surplus of natural gas.

2009-02-23

DON'T BUY

2.800

Rick Stuchberry

Outlook is not great in the short term for drillers. Natural gas prices have to start to appreciate than the producers have to decide to drill more wells. Things should be improving by next year.

2009-02-20

DON'T BUY

3.020

David Burrows

(Market Call Minute.) Stay away from the drillers.

2009-02-19

HOLD

3.890

Michael Smedley

Present management is expanding the company again. It should be all right, but you are waiting for a cycle return on the whole oil services sector.

2009-02-13

SELL

4.600

Veronika Hirsch

(Market Call Minute.) Balance sheet issue. Need to refinance.

2009-02-05

DON'T BUY

5.080

Michele Robitaille

Drilling activity has come to a virtual standstill and outlook is weak. Made an acquisition of Grey Wolf at a very healthy price and terms of the debt are quite restrictive. If you own, you might want to hold for a couple of years until the drilling cycle comes back.

2009-02-03

DON'T BUY

6.560

Laura Wallace

Timing of the acquisition of Grey Wolf (GW-A) was unfortunate. Cut their distribution. Oil service companies are high beta oil companies and oil companies are high beta. A lot of volatility.

2009-01-28

DON'T BUY

7.520

With the decline in oil prices, there will be massive cutbacks in capital expenditures, which will impact drillers.

2009-01-20

BUY on WEAKNESS

8.440

(Market Call Minute.) Look for an opportunity to buy but don't be in a hurry. Cheap.

2008-12-19

SELL

7.650

Bill MacLachlan

This is a company that he would not be in at all. It is so sensitive to the cap X of the energy companies. Thinks it will be a few years before this one returns to its former levels.

2008-12-11

Comment

8.780