RE:RE:RE:I Added my thoughts to your comments as well... A few quick points on the fly here:
1. IMO too Peyto's dividend was too much too soon. I think the market would have been suitably impressed by a yield of 2 to 3%. The board members who decided on raising it from $0.04 per year to $0.60 (6.3%!) must have been drunk on "Happy Days are Here Again".
That divy "correction" shows me the commitment and confidence of BoD to the founding principles of Peyto, ie max return to shareholders.
2. Then again, I don't think the sp has anything to do with investor criticism of the increased dividend. As Quintessential points out, the price of gas dropped by 20% since that announcement. Every gas producer's sp went down.
I agree, sp has nothing to do with dividends, just for now. But it will have a huge impact once Peyto gets relisted in tsx index again, IMO.
3. Agree with TE that debt repayment should have been a higher priority. All that covenant pressure is like walking in gumbo when it comes to making dramatic moves -- like buying back shares or acquiring other companies. To be sure, Peyto has never had much of a taste for the dramatic, but imagine (as per TE) the effects of a 20% buyback when the sp was in the $1 to $2.50 range, or a purchase in 2020 of a struggling company for 10 to 25% of its value 18 months later.
I indeed like to have opportunuties such as buying Peyto stocks for nothing. If Peyto wouldn't let me do that (buy-backs), my average sp cost would be much higher. My Peyto stocks yield is a couple of times higher than 6%.
To be debt-free in O&G industry?? Is it realistic? A good idea or a theory? I don't have the answer but; I would do so if I have a plan to stop doing business. I would keep investing (borrowing) if I have a plan to grow my business.
Peyto needs a new story right now and I am looking for that. Do you think debt-free Peyto is what it is?
4. TE: just wanted to say that, in their presentation, Peyto is only entertaining an alternate scenario when they use the October futures curve. It's "for illustration only" -- not guidance or a statement of goals.