There are no safe havens in the stock market. Every stock carries risk. But some less than others. This column features stocks that have shown one or more of the following characteristics: less volatility, better earnings, larger market caps, safe and increasing dividends. In these times of turmoil, our goal is to show readers better opportunities for investing with fewer risks.

June 13, 2011 - Chevron Corporation (CVX-NYSE), through its subsidiaries, engages in petroleum, chemicals, mining, power generation, and energy operations worldwide. It operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream.

The Downstream segment refines crude oil into petroleum products; markets crude oil and refined products primarily under the Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex brand names; transports crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufactures and markets commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives. It also produces and markets coal and molybdenum; and holds interests in 13 power assets with a total operating capacity of approximately 3,100 megawatts, as well as cash management and debt financing activities, insurance operations, real estate activities, energy services, and alternative fuels and technology business.

Chevron Corporation has a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corp. and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in May 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is based in San Ramon, California.

As Chevron drills and delivers oil and natural gas, its oil that drives the bottom line. While its major competitors have a better balance between the two energy sources, CVX believes oil is still the best resource to exploit. If the price of oil stays high or goes higher, management wins this bet. If oil continues to weaken, then the stock will drop right along with it. Still, conservative investors will find a lot of data in CVX that give them comfort.

First is the balance sheet. Only 8% of it is debt. (The company carries an A++ Financial Strength rating.) Then there's cash in the bank: $16.874 billion. And the dividend isn't bad either: $3.12 this year compared to $2.84 in 2010. That's a yield of 3.15%, not bad when CD rates are under 1% and T-bill rates barely register on the positive scale. Of course, there's more risk with a stock, but the reward seems to be there.

Recently the stock hit an all-time high of $109.94 (in April of this year). It's up 34.58% in the last 12 months. The push came from oil rising well above $100 a barrel. Since the company produces 2,800 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (yes, per day) and has plans to increase that by 2% next year, the price of oil plays a major role in where the stock trades. If you think oil will only go higher, then CHV will hold special interest for you.

The company certainly believes it will. There are several large oil projects that will come to fruition over the next few years located in its Tengiz holdings (in Kazakhstan....Chevron is the largest private oil producer there), Gulf of Thailand, the Wheatstone fields in Australia, the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. There should be enough new oil flowing to replace all of the current production being sold.

Essential numbers: Trailing P/E is 9.58 and the Forward P/E is 7.60. Price to sales ratio is 1.00. Price to book is 1.82. Book value is $54.77. Operating margin for the last 12 months was 14.20% and Profit margin was 10.28%. Return on equity was 20.10% and Return on assets was 9.82%. Total revenues were $201.28 billion. Total cash per share is $8.39. Total debt is $11.58 billion. Debt to equity is 10.44%. Current ratio is 1.53. There are 2.01 billion shares Outstanding with a Float of 2.01 billion. Instititutions have 63.20% of the stock.

All investors looking for a solid stock to own will find CVX of interest. Conservative investors who believe oil will hold these levels and maybe go higher will find it almost irresistable. While alternative fuel sources are being developed, they are many years away from being a meaningful replacement for oil. And during those years, CVX should make a lot of money.

- Company Web site: www.chevron.com

- Ted Allrich