from stockwatch.comCardinal Energy Ltd. (CJ) enjoyed its best and busiest day in months, winging up 27 cents to $4.84 on 3.47 million shares. The stock has risen from a low of just $3.76 on Aug. 9. It has not released any news during this time, other than the regular announcements of its 3.5-cent monthly dividend, which yields a generous 8.7 per cent (indicating, some would say, a lack of confidence in Cardinal's firm declarations that it does not expect to make any changes to its dividend this year). In any case, investors are hoping that Cardinal will soon have news about its planned asset sales. Like the above-mentioned Cenovus, Cardinal closed a large acquisition earlier this year (although for just $300-million rather than $17.7-billion, and from Apache rather than ConocoPhillips). Its stock has been under pressure ever since. Cardinal headed to the market to raise cash for part of the acquisition, completing a $170-million private placement at $5.50 a share in June. The stock has yet to get back up to that price level. It is moving in that direction, however, as Cardinal looks to sell royalty interests and fee title lands to offset the cost of the acquisition. This process seems to be taking longer than Cardinal may have hoped. Cardinal said in June that it would aim for sales "in Q3 and Q4 of 2017," and the third quarter is almost at an end, with no sales announced yet. There is still plenty of time. According to the prospectus for the $170-million financing, Cardinal is hoping that the royalty and land sales bring in a total of $130-million.