Crude prices fell slowly over the last week but were not particularly volatile. The price fell from $92.21 to its close at $90.86. The stock market increased though, moving inversely to the price of crude. The market, as measured by the S&P 500, was much more volatile. The market climbed quickly on Monday and early Tuesday then quickly fell to its weekly low on Wednesday before recovering in the latter half of the week. It failed to return to Tuesday's high but did close much higher than its open on Monday. As usual, the six integrated foreign oil companies that I track in this weekly update series reacted differently to the overall market movement.
Statoil (STO) opened at $23.26 on May 21, 2012. The stock closed at $23.27 in after hours trading on May 25, 2012. Stockholders in the company thus saw a gain of $0.01 per ADR share or 0.00% over the week. Statoil opened at $26.59 on April 30, 2012. This gives the stock a four-week loss of $3.32 or 12.49%. Statoil went ex-dividend on May 17, 2012. ADR-holders as of the close of the market on that date will receive a dividend payment of approximately $1.12.
Thus, the total loss over the four-week period was $2.20 or 8.27% when the dividend is considered. The company's stock performance does not appear to be considering the company's double-digit year over year production growth. It is most certainly undervalued at this level.
STO 5-Day Chart
click to enlarge
Source: Fidelity Investments
STO 4-Week Chart
Source: Fidelity Investments
BP plc (BP) opened the week at $37.58. The stock closed at $38.11 in after hours trading on May 25, 2012. This gives BP shareholders a gain of $0.53 or 1.41% over the week. BP opened at $43.31 on April 30. Thus, shareholders of BP stock suffered a loss of $5.20 or 12.01% over the four-week period. BP went ex-dividend on May 9, 2012. Shareholders as of that date will be receiving a dividend payment of $0.48. Thus, the total loss incurred by shareholders was $4.72 or 10.90% over the four-week period when the dividend is considered.
BP 5-Day Chart
Source: Fidelity Investments
BP 4-Week Chart
Source: Fidelity Investments
Total S.A. (TOT) opened on May 21, 2012 at $44.08 per share. The stock closed at $43.88 in after hours trading on May 25. Thus, Total shareholders suffered a loss of $0.20 or 0.45% over the week. Total opened on April 30 at $47.91. Thus, stockholders have incurred a capital loss of $4.03 or 8.41% over the past four weeks. Total's stock has been much flatter than its peers in recent weeks. It is possible that the stock has hit a bottom, assuming that there are no significant declines in oil prices going forward. A falling oil price still has the potential to push the stock down further.
TOT 5-Day Chart
Source: Fidelity Investments
TOT 4-Week Chart
Source: Fidelity Investments
Suncor (SU) opened on May 21 at $26.96. The stock closed at $28.19 in after hours trading on May 25. This gives the stock a gain of $1.23 or 4.56% for the week. The stock opened on April 30, 2012 at $32.09. Thus, shareholders of Suncor have incurred a loss of $3.90 or 14.47% over the four week period. As with Statoil, the market does not appear to be appreciating the growth potential here. This stock is also undervalued. Suncor is also proving to be much more volatile than many of the other companies here. Thus, the stock may deliver bigger gains than its peers in environments of rising oil or market prices but may also see greater declines when oil or market prices fall.
SU 5-Day Chart
Source: Fidelity Investments
SU 4-Week Chart
Source: Fidelity Investments
Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) opened at $62.75 on May 21. The stock closed at $62.89 in after hours trading on Friday, May 25. This gives shareholders a gain of $0.14 or 0.22% for the week. The stock opened at $70.55 on April 30, 2012. Shareholders thus incurred a capital loss of $7.66 per share or 10.9% over the four-week period. Royal Dutch Shell went ex-dividend on May 9, 2012. Shareholders as of the market close on that date will receive a dividend payment of $0.86 per share. Thus, the total four-week loss including the dividend is $6.80 or 9.64%.
RDS.A 5-Day Chart
Source: Fidelity Investments
RDS.A 4-Week Chart
Source: Fidelity Investments
Eni (E) opened at $39.08 on May 21. The stock closed at $39.32 in after hours trading on Friday, May 25. This gives shareholders a gain of $0.24 or 0.61% for the week. The stock opened at $44.54 on April 30, 2012. Shareholders thus incurred a loss of $5.22 per share or 11.72% over the four-week period. Eni went ex-dividend on Monday, May 21. Shareholders as of that date will receive a dividend of approximately $1.097. The stock thus had a gain for the week of $1.337 or 3.42% when the dividend is considered. Likewise, the total four-week return was a loss of $4.123 or 9.26% over the four-week period when the dividend is considered.
E 5-Day Chart
Source: Fidelity Investments
E 4-Week Chart
Source: Fidelity Investments
Suncor was the best performing stock this week due largely to the much larger volatility that it has relative to its other integrated oil peers. Statoil was the best performing stock over the four-week period with Total in a close second but all six of these stocks saw falling share prices over the past month due to the overall market environment and declining oil prices. Total was the worst performing stock over the past week and the only one of the six that saw a capital loss, albeit a small one. Canadian oil sands giant Suncor was the worst performing stock over the four-week period.
