5i Stock Screener: Best Canadian Oil Companies to Own in an Uncertain War

Michael Huynh Mar 19, 2026
Headline image for 5i Stock Screener: Best Canadian Oil Companies to Own in an Uncertain War

The Iran war has once again reminded investors that the global energy supply chain remains fragile. Recent geopolitical tensions have pushed oil prices significantly higher, with crude prices trading around $100 and becoming highly volatile. Though for the macro economy things could potentially get tough for a lot of industries and individuals, as higher oil prices mean higher inflation.

With that said, Canada offers stable regulatory and political conditions, combined with a strong asset base. Canada may become one of the most reliable sources of long-term oil supply over the next few years. In addition, for investors, this environment creates one of the best setups for energy investors in many years: record free cash flow, strong balance sheets, and healthy prospects for continued capital returns.

In recent years, Canadian oil companies have gone through a major change in capital allocation policy. Instead of chasing production growth, most oil producers now prioritize returning capital to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. The reason is that for many years, because of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) theme, political and environmental concerns, and weak prices, oil companies were not incentivized to put more rigs to extract more oil, but rather to reduce debt and return most of the cash flow to shareholders.

The current geopolitical environment could be working in favor of the Canadian oil industry. Below are some of the highest-quality Canadian oil companies that combine solid assets with attractive capital returns.

Below, we have screened for companies with the following criteria:
• Either pay a dividend yield or repurchase shares
• Free Cash Flow yield of at least 2%
• Market capitalization greater than $100 million
• Net debt/EBITDA over the last twelve months no greater than 2.0x

Ticker Name Last Price Market Cap Sector Return On Equity % (LTM) Div Yield (Ind) Buyback Yield (LTM) FCF Mkt Cap Yld (LTM) Net Debt / EBITDA (LTM) Total Revenues/CAGR (5Y FY)
HME Hemisphere Energy Corporation 2.64 $245M Energy 39.6% 6.1% 2.7% 17.7% 0 31%
CNQ Canadian Natural Resources Limited 66.81 $101.5B Energy 25.8% 3.7% 0.9% 6.0% 1.2 18%
ARX ARC Resources Ltd. 27.83 $11.6B Energy 15.7% 3.0% 3.2% 7.6% 1.2 40%
PEY Peyto Exploration & Development Corp. 28.8 $4.3B Energy 15.1% 4.6% -1.3% 6.5% 1.1 23%
IMO Imperial Oil Limited 168.61 $59.4B Energy 14.3% 2.1% 4.0% 5.8% 0.4 16%
SU Suncor Energy Inc. 82.81 $71.6B Energy 13.2% 2.9% 3.0% 7.1% 0.7 15%
CVE Cenovus Energy Inc. 32.17 $43.9B Energy 12.8% 2.4% 3.5% 5.5% 1.2 30%
WCP Whitecap Resources Inc. 14.4 $12.7B Energy 11.8% 5.1% 1.1% 3.5% 1.1 45%
FRU Freehold Royalties Ltd. 17.3 $2.1B Energy 8.8% 6.2%   6.7% 1 28%
TPZ Topaz Energy Corp. 31.58 $3.6B Energy 8.3% 4.3% 0.0% 3.7% 1.7 28%
PSK PrairieSky Royalty Ltd. 31.73 $5.4B Energy 7.8% 3.3% 2.2% 3.5% 0.6 23%
SGY Surge Energy Inc. 8.72 $628M Energy 5.5% 6.0% 1.0% 12.3% 0.7 20%
BIR Birchcliff Energy Ltd. 7.29 $1.5B Energy 2.9% 1.7% -0.6% 5.0% 1.6 6%
PRQ Petrus Resources Ltd. 1.85 $198M Energy 0.2% 6.5% -0.1% 2.4% 1.3 5%
TVE Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd. 10.68 $3.8B Energy -1.8% 1.5% 3.9% 5.5% 0.7 47%
VET Vermilion Energy Inc. 16.43 $1.8B Energy -14.5% 3.3% 1.4% 12.3% 1.1 11%
FEC Frontera Energy Corporation 13.69 $685M Energy -26.1% 1.8% 19.1% 17.7% 1.1 -4%
PNE Pine Cliff Energy Ltd. 0.69 $180M Energy -26.9% 2.2% 0.0% 4.0% 1.2 10%

 

Due to the cyclicality of the industry, we think investors are better off looking for companies with healthy free cash flow yields and a low debt profile that allow them to support their dividends. To address this, investors can look at Free Cash Flow (FCF) yield, which is calculated as free cash flow divided by market capitalization. In addition, net debt/EBITDA measures companies’ ability to pay down their debt through earnings. Combining these two variables gives investors a good idea of which stocks currently have a strong ability to support their dividend yields.

The criteria above include companies either paying dividends or repurchasing shares. These companies’ dividends are supported by free cash flow on a trailing twelve-month basis. In addition, we present important financial metrics such as five-year average revenue growth, net debt/EBITDA (no greater than 2.0x), and Return on Equity (ROE). As usual, we prefer companies with market capitalizations above $100 million, as these companies have generally proven themselves to be more mature, self-sustaining entities with better liquidity.

We think there are several names on the list that look promising for members to conduct further in-depth research, such as Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ), Suncor Energy (SU), and Hemisphere Energy Corporation (HME).

Lastly, the companies on this list are not recommendations, but rather a starting point to help investors generate potential investment ideas.

 

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Take care,

 Michael Signature

Disclosure: The analyst(s) responsible for this report do not have a financial or other interest in the securities mentioned.

 

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