11:05 AM EST, 02/10/2025 (MT Newswires) -- National Bank of Canada over the weekend revised its "pecking order" of oilfield services companies ahead of fourth-quarter 2024 earnings reports from the sector.

The bank's new ranking is CES Energy Solutions ( CESDF ) , Precision Drilling ( PDS ) , Enerflex ( EFXT ) , Pason Systems ( PSYTF ) and Trican Well Service ( TOLWF ) . The previous order was Precision, Trican, Pason ( PSYTF ), CES and Enerflex ( EFXT ).

National Bank cited "a risked assessment of earnings momentum, free cash and valuation, as a product of the relative exposure to the noted thematics," while continuing to acknowledge the relative uniformity throughout.

"Our view holds for stability in the sector, as relatively range-bound commodity prices and an associated muted cadence of upstream spending continues to translate towards an industrialized (high-quality and structurally-supported) earnings outlook for the group," the bank said.

"That perspective should continue to opportunistically offer thematic upside (intensity of utilization, emerging pockets of demand; power and LNG), but in general, should see the group continue to yield value in well-supported, recurring free cash and expanding return of capital that should dictate an ongoing re-rate of multiples (from their historical discount)," National Bank added.

Price: 8.82, Change: +0.16, Percent Change: +1.85