EPD

The Real Reasons Why Buffett Wants You in Index Funds

by

Image Shown: Since mid-June 2015, on a price-only basis, the S&P 500 (SPY) has nearly doubled, while shares of Kinder Morgan have nearly halved. In Morgan Housel’s The Psychology of Money, chapter 16 leads in with “Beware taking financial cues from people playing a different game than you are.” The people on CNBC are playing a different game than you, and so is Warren Buffett. Buffett’s principles of stock selection are golden, but you must understand that he is near the top of the Forbes’ Billionaires List. He absolutely should be taking his own advice and indexing! With the threat of long-term inflation and price-agnostic trading, the everyday investor, even with a few million in the bank, is not so … Read more

Earnings from Our Two Favorite Midstream MLPs: EPD and MMP

by

Image Source: Enterprise Products Partners L.P. – Fourth Quarter of 2020 IR Earnings Presentation In Alphabetical Order by Ticker: EPD, MMP By Callum Turcan The energy market is recovering and that speaks favorably towards the midstream side of the oil & gas industry. Midstream companies operate pipelines, storage facilities, processing plants, marine terminals, gathering systems and other energy infrastructure assets. As global health authorities work to bring an end to the coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic, aided by ongoing vaccine distribution efforts, that should enable North American raw energy resources production to post a sustained recovery. Raw energy resources include crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (such as propane, butane, and ethane). North American energy production took a big hit … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week January 8

by

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending January 8. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports use the ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week Alamo (ALG): now $0.14 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.13. Bank OZK (OZK): now $0.2775 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.2750. Caledonia Mining (CMCL): now $0.11 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.10. CIGNA (CI): now $1.00 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.04. Enterprise Products Partners (EPD): now $0.45 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.445. Fiat Chrysler (FCAU): now EUR 1.84 per share special dividend, was EUR … Read more

Chevron’s Forward-Looking Dividend Coverage is Becoming Stressed

by

Image Shown: Chevron Corporation reduced its capital expenditure expectations a couple of times this year, though that still has not enabled the firm to generate meaningful free cash flows given the various headwinds facing its businesses. Image Source: Chevron Corporation – November 2020 IR Presentation By Callum Turcan On October 30, Chevron Corporation (CVX) reported third quarter earnings for 2020. As expected, it was a brutal report from Chevron. The ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic decimated global energy demand and severely weakened raw energy resources pricing at a time when refining margins are quite weak. This double whammy saw Chevron post a $0.2 billion GAAP net loss in the third quarter of 2020 as its revenues tanked. Dividend Coverage Facing Serious … Read more

Exxon Mobil’s Weak Forward-Looking Dividend Coverage is Very Concerning

by

Image Source: Exxon Mobil Corporation – Third Quarter of 2020 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) has contended with enormous headwinds so far in 2020 due to the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic, and that has put its dividend at risk. Over the past couple of years, the company has come nowhere close to generating enough free cash flow to cover its dividend obligations. Exxon Mobil’s forward-looking dividend coverage appears quite weak and the company is currently leaning heavily on debt markets to keep making good on those obligations. As of this writing, shares of XOM yield ~9.7% as investors are increasingly pricing in the chance for a meaningful payout cut. Deteriorating Upstream Outlook The long-term slide … Read more

Our Thoughts on Magellan Midstream’s Latest Earnings

by

Image Shown: Keeping the many headwinds facing the energy infrastructure space in mind, Magellan Midstream Partners LP remains one of our favorite midstream master limited partnerships. Image Source: Magellan Midstream Partners LP – October 2020 IR Presentation By Callum Turcan On October 30, Magellan Midstream Partners LP (MMP) reported third quarter 2020 earnings that beat both top- and bottom-line consensus estimates. The midstream master limited partnership (‘MLP’) space has faced enormous headwinds due to the ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic, though the firm was still able to generate sizable free cash flows during the first nine months of 2020. Magellan Midstream is a modestly-weighted holding in the High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolio, and as of this writing, units of MMP yield … Read more

Energy Transfer’s Dividend Cut Not Enough, Needs to Slash It More

by

  We expect another distribution cut from Energy Transfer in the not-too-distant future. Its traditional free cash flow generation is still too meager to cover its now-reduced distribution level, and the energy markets are simply not cooperating. The energy sector has been among the worst-performing equity sectors for some time now, and investor appetite for new equity and debt issuance is waning as return expectations are ratcheted down in a troubled energy resource environment. We expect more pain to come for Energy Transfer’s stock. Our fair value estimate stands at $4 per share. By Brian Nelson, CFA On October 26, Energy Transfer (ET) put an axe to its distribution, cutting the payout in half to $0.1525/unit on a quarterly basis, … Read more

ConocoPhillips Is Buying Concho Resources

by

Image Shown: An overview of the pro forma asset base of ConocoPhillips and Concho Resources Inc. Please note that Concho Resources’ main operations are in the Permian Basin in West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico, a region that ConocoPhillips seeks to grow its exposure to. ConocoPhillips has an expansive upstream portfolio with operations worldwide, though its North American position is set to become a much larger part of its company-wide profile. Image Source: ConocoPhillips – ConocoPhillips & Concho Resources Transaction Announcement IR Presentation By Callum Turcan On October 19, ConocoPhillips (COP) announced it was acquiring Concho Resources Inc (CXO) through an all-stock deal. If the deal goes through as planned, each share of CXO will be exchanged for 1.46 shares … Read more

Our Thoughts on the Potential Acquisition of Concho Resources by ConocoPhillips

by

Image Source: ConocoPhillips – November 2019 Annual & Investor Meeting Presentation By Callum Turcan According to Bloomberg, the super-independent ConocoPhillips (COP) is currently talking with Concho Resources Inc (CXO) about acquiring the company. We do not expect that such a deal will come with a significant premium, and furthermore, and we expect that such a deal will likely be funded with equity. Our reasoning is underpinned by recent M&A activity in the oil patch, such as the all-stock acquisition of Noble Energy by Chevron Corporation (CVX) through a ~$5 billion deal that was completed in early-October. That deal involved Chevron paying a ~12% premium (based on ten-day average closing stock prices) at the time of the announcement, though please note … Read more

Our Thoughts on the Oil & Gas Industry

by

Image Shown: Crude oil prices, measured by the WTI benchmark, plummeted during the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic and have yet to fully recover. Declines in global crude oil prices have depressed prices for natural gas, natural gas liquids, and liquified natural gas as well. We expect that it will take some time for the oil and gas industry to truly recover, and hefty net debt loads combined with onerous dividend obligations are making that a very tough task. Juicy dividend yields are a sign of the headwinds facing the oil and gas industry and are not a sign of strong underlying strength in those firms that are paying out generous dividends. By Callum Turcan Raw energy resources prices … Read more