Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Business Week's No. 5 Company - Questar

No. 5: Questar

Industry: Gas Utilities
Sales: $2.7 billion
Net Income: $507.4 million
Salt Lake City-based Questar (STR) distributes natural gas to 850,000 Rocky Mountain customers, but with fast-growing oil and gas drilling operations, it's no sleepy utility. Led by CEO Keith Rattie, it earned $507 million on sales of $2.7 billion last year and has benefited from a diverse set of businesses that includes gas pipelines and processing plants. The stock has quadrupled in the past five years, to a recent 56, thanks to heavy investment in natural gas production. There's still a low-risk utility mindset in evidence, however: Questar has hedged 80% of its 2008 production at $7 per 1,000 cubic feet, which limits upside but protects against a drop in natural gas prices.

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