Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-07

operating Colonial" filling stations In
New England and New York. Even
more recently they entered into a
project to pipe natural gas from Texas
to st. Louis
The company's balance sheet totals
close to billion and half dollars.
its common stock about 900 million
and funded debt ITO. million. The
financial position of the company is,
OF course, very strong, and the COM
peny has been even more conservative
than other Standards in the matter OF
dividends. It pays 81 a year plus an
extra, which gives the modest yield
of per cent. At present prices 1t is
selling at Is times average earnings
over past six years.
Standard Oil Of New York.
In listed asses - ~''dard Of New
York is the second l.. - of the Stand
ard Oil group. 1t .,..rles on every
branch of the oil industry. It's retail
pally In the New England States and
New York. The company also does a
large business in the East Indies,
orient, South Africa and other parts
Of the world. Through its subsidiary,
Magnolia Petroleum. it reaches into both
the Texas selling and producing fields,
and through General Petroleum into
West Coast territory and into Alaska
and Mexico.
While earnings of this Standard Com
pany have fluctuated more widely than
some, averaging $208 share during
the past six years, the company Is well
able to cope with depressed conditions
in the '~dustry, and should profit when
the oil industry finally turns the cor
ner. The company's financial position
is sound. The capital set-up Of stocks
to bonds Is about to /. The stock,
present prices and is selling about 10
times average earnings over past six
years.
Standard OIL Of California.
= Standard of California, which has
formerly concentrated in refining, has
made great progress in the past four
years in the production field and in
taking care to assure itself an ample
future oil supply. Today 1t Is the largest
producer of crude oil in the United
States and operates principally in Okla
homa, Texas, Mexico and California. 1t
has three reflneries located at strategic
points on the Pacific Coast and an I'M
usually efficient retail distributing sys-
tenn covers the west coast. This COM
pany and Mexican Seaboard are the
most powerful factors in the new Ket-
tleman Hills district, although Standard
seems to be conserving as much of its
production as feasible for the future.
Because OF its pre-eminent position as
a producer and perhaps because it Of
fers somewhat greater speculative pos
slbilities than other Standards, 1t sells
to yield about a. per cent with extra
and for about 81 times average earn
lngs over past SIX years. The company
Is in the unique position of having no
funded debt and merely the one issue
OF common. Its financial position is
unusually strong.
Standard of Indiana,
. Attention has recently been focused
on Standard of Indiana because of the
Rockefeller-Stewart controversy. It Is
one OF the, biggest of the Standards and
Is the largest producer OF gasoline in
the world. 1t is a complete unit in
production, transportation, refining and
marketing. In controlling Pan-Ameri-
can Petroleum, Midwest Refining, Lago
and Mexican Petroleum 1t Is an impor-
tant producer in Mexico, Texas, Vene-
zuela. Arkansas and Louisiana. While
Pan America gives 1t a selling outlet in
the East its principal market is in the
Middle West.
Because of its position as the lead
ing gasoline producer 1t has perhaps
not been hurt so much as other COM
panieS by general overproduction of
crude oil. Earnings have averaged 1894
a share on present stock for the past
six years. The stock on which a SO per
cent stock dividend Is soon to be paid
is the only capital obligation of the
company and is selling on a higher
plane than most Standards, being rs
times average earnings.
Some of this Is undoubtedly due to
dividend liberality, of which the most
recent example Is the declaration of a
higher dividend rate on the new stock
than average reported earnings over the
past six years would seem to justify. 1t
Is also probable that interest concerning
the outcome of the Stewart-Rockefeller
proxy" battle has kept the price at a
high level.
Oil Future.
! While many of the oil securities have
unquestionably attractive features for
long pull investment purposes, present