The TSX is starting to sputter in October 2021 after its bull run of nine months. However, the red-hot energy sector isn’t showing signs of cooling off. It’s been advancing in the last 30 days (+17.49%), three months (+5.87%), and six months (+23.09). The year-to-date gain is 62.95% versus the broader market’s 15.02%.
Two mid-cap energy stocks are shining bright this year due to their jaw-dropping gains. You’d least expect NuVista Energy (TSX:NVA) and Crew Energy (TSX:CR) to outperform the likes of Enbridge, Pembina Pipeline, and TC Energy, but they are in 2021. Investors who’d placed their bets on the lesser-known energy stocks in early October 2020 or late December last year will earn considerable windfall if they sell today.
Significant revenue growth
NuVista Energy is a $1.2 billion oil and gas company that explores for and develops and produces oil and natural gas reserves. The concentration of operations is in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. In the stock market, trading volume was high in the last quarter of 2020.
The current share price is $5.34, or 652% higher than a year ago. NuVista’s year-to-date return is 468%. Because of the astronomical gains, a $10,000 investment on December 31, 2020, would be worth $56,808.51 today. However, had you bought shares earlier on October 5, 2020, the capital would balloon to $79,211.27.
NuVista’s business performance this year is reflected in the stock’s performance. Total petroleum and natural gas revenues in the first half of 2021 grew 74% to $339.33 million versus the same period in 2020. The company has rebounded from its $869.17 million net loss and posted a $4.44 million net income.
Management attributes the significant growth in revenue to vastly improved commodity pricing. Also, the increased liquidity enabled NuVista to reduce net debt by $77 million. A solid business plan is in place for the rest of 2021. If the facilities are filled to capacity, NuVista expects to maximize free adjusted funds flow and return of capital to shareholders.
World-class resource play
Crew Energy’s returns in 2021 are outrageous. The share price is only $3.32, but the trailing one-year price return and year-to-date gains are 797% and 493%, respectively. A $5,000 investment one year ago would be worth $44,864.88 today. Assuming you’d bought Crew shares on December 31, 2020, the investment’s value on October 5, 2021, is $29,642.86.
The $519.83 million light oil and natural gas company operates in the vast Montney resource in northeast British Columbia. Crew’s goal since commencing operations in 2003 is to develop and provide platform for long-term, profitable corporate growth.
According to management, Crew is well positioned and ready for infrastructure construction. It’s the next crucial phase to support continued production growth from its Montney lands. The area where it operates is a world-class resource play. Crew’s siltstone gas reservoir is one of the top natural gas basins in the world.
After two quarters in 2021, Crew’s financial performance has improved tremendously compared to the same period in 2020. The sales growth from petroleum and natural gas was 145%, while net loss reduced by 90% to $21.78 million.
In the limelight
NuVista Energy and Crew Energy are two of the brilliant stocks this year. Both names deserve to be in the limelight and the shopping lists of growth investors in Q4 2021.
