Is this the best Canadian Oil & Gas stock to buy right now?

Stocks of Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TSX:TOU) jumped 4.5 per cent at market open on September 23 and were trading at US$ 42.94 per share, at the time of writing. The surge in the stock prices could be due to the company's announcement of a special cash dividend and a guidance update for 2022.

Investors have been bullish about the Oil & Gas company's stock since the beginning of this year and Tourmaline has delivered stellar returns to the shareholders. TOU stock has catapulted by 139.5 per cent year-to-date (YTD) and it had recently clocked a 52-week high of C$ 43.1 per share on September 16.

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If the stock continues soaring, it could breach the 52-week high on Thursday, September 23, as it is already near the US$ 43-mark and might cross it by market close. That said, let's take a closer look at the company's guidance and recent developments:

Is Tourmaline (TSX:TOU) worth investing in?

On September 22, Tourmaline announced that its approved 2022 EP capital budget is C$ 1.125 billion and that it is expected to deliver an average production in the range of 500,000 to 510,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) and generate a cash flow of C$ 3.7 billion.

Notably, the Oil & Gas company has plans to return a majority of its free cash flow to shareholders on a go-forward basis. The company is in a position to increase its base quarterly dividend by C$ 0.01 per unit to C$ 0.18 per share payable to shareholders on December 31. This represents an annualized payout of C$ 0.72 per share and Tourmaline has also declared a special dividend of C$ 0.75 per share payable on October 7.

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In the second quarter of 2021, Tourmaline achieved record free cash flow of C$ 343.9 million and the average production was 410,339 boepd. Meanwhile, the net income increased by 1,993 per cent year-over-year (YoY) to C$ 420.8 million in Q2 2021.

Also Read: 4 oil & gas stocks to buy in 2021

In Q2 2021, the revenue from commodity sales and realized gains were C$ 921.3 million, representing an increase of 108 per cent YoY.

Bottom line

The TOU stock has delivered strong returns to the shareholders for the past 12 months. It surged by about 145 per cent in the last 12 months and outperformed the Toronto Stock Exchange 300 Composite Index as it surged by about 94 per cent in the same comparable period.