Woodside Petroleum WPL shares – Company Profile

WPL is Australia’s largest diversified oil and liquefied natural gas producer. The company’s major assets are in northwest Australia in the North West Shelf Joint Venture. The company is one of the leading energy shares listed on the Australian share market.

The company’s headquarters are in Perth. WPL has oil and gas assets and exploration projects in five continents including Australia and the United States.

WPL runs the North West Shelf Venture in Western Australia, which is Australia’s largest resources project. In fact, North West Shelf Venture produces about 40 per cent of Australia’s oil and gas.

The company is also aiming to become a global leader in liquefied natural gas (LNG) production by 2015.

The North West Shelf Venture is one of the world’s largest production resources of LNG. WPL runs the Pluto LNG project. The company’s share of production will rise to 6.6 million tonnes in 2011.

The numbers

WPL shares certainly look attractive on a number of bases.

Using fundamental analysis, the company has a solid P/E ratio of just under 20 times forecast earnings. While this might appear high compared with industrial stocks, it indicates the market has faith in its ability to bring key projects to fruition.

The company has continued to build on its growth, with sales growth growing by more than an 11 per cent average for the last five years.

The company also has a reasonable dividend yield of around three per cent. For a growth stock with such potential, it’s a nice little bonus.

Takeover potential

The company also has takeover potential. While Royal Dutch Shell’s bid in the 1990s was knocked back by then Treasurer Peter Costello, on national interest grounds, there have been rumours that BHP is interested in the company.

Turning to the stockbrokers, the shares look well supported. A recent survey found that out of 18 brokers, 10 brokers said the stock was either a ‘buy’ or an ‘outperform’. Only one broker called the stock a ‘sell’.