ETE

Dividend Increases for the Week Ending July 24

by

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending July 24. 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 BancorpSouth (BXS): now $0.10 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.075. Bar Harbor Bankshares (BHB): now $0.255 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Baylake Corp (BYLK): now $0.09 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.08. BBCN Bancorp (BBCN): now $0.11 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.10. B&G Foods (BGS): now $0.35 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.34. Chemical Financial (CHFC): now $0.26 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.24. … Read more

Williams’ Rejection, Medtronic’s Hike, eBay’s Sale, and Hershey’s Disappointment

by

Williams Companies Rejects Offer from Energy Transfer Equity Natural gas pipeline company Williams Companies (WMB) has seen shares jump after Energy Transfer Equity (ETE) confirmed reports that it had made a bid to acquire the company. Despite the all-equity offer of $64 per share representing a 32% premium to Williams’ June 19 closing price, the offer was rejected by the firm as significantly too low. ETE has made multiple attempts to talk with Williams’ management about a possible merger in the past half year, and ETE has said its offer is contingent on the abortion of Williams’ pending purchase of Williams Partners (WPZ). The initial offer came on May 19, six days after Williams Companies announced it would buy Williams … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending January 30

by

Let’s take a look at dividend increases/decreases for the week ending January 30.

Energy Transfer Partners’ Distribution Coverage Improves in 3Q

by

On Tuesday, energy pipeline operator and Dividend Growth portfolio holding Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) reported solid third-quarter results. Adjusted EBITDA totaled $942 million in the quarter, up $282 million from past year’s period, while distributable cash flow totaled $527 million, up $149 million from the year-ago quarter. Income from continuing operations in the third quarter also showed a nice increase of $185 million over the same period last year, to $391 million. Though strategic acquisitions in 2012 (including Sunoco) bolstered year-over-year comparisons, we were extremely impressed with ETP’s distribution coverage ratio of 1.14 in the quarter, which compares to 0.97 in the year-ago period (1). ETP recently increased its quarterly distribution to $0.905 per unit, but with coverage ratios as … Read more

Energy Transfer Partners’ Distribution Growth Could Return

by

Wednesday afternoon, Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio holding Energy Transfer Partners (click ticker for report: ) announced solid second quarter results marked by nice growth in distributable cash flow (DCF). Because of its many acquisitions, revenue was significantly higher than the prior-year period at $11.6 billion, in-line with consensus expectations. Earnings per share were also significantly higher year-over-year at $0.53, which is also far better than consensus estimates. Ultimately, for a yield instrument like Energy Transfer Partners, cash flow metrics are far more important than headline numbers. After the Linn Energy (click ticker for report: ) distributable cash flow debacle, ETP has improved its distributable cash flow reporting, providing investors with DCF attributable to the partners of ETP. This excludes DCF … Read more

Transformative Acquisitions Boost Energy Transfer Partners

by

Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio holding Energy Transfer Partners (click ticker for report: ) posted solid first-quarter results as the firm continues to benefit from several acquisitions completed in 2012. Adjusted EBITDA more than doubled compared to the same period of 2012, to $956 million, and distributable cash flow increased 77% year-over-year to $622 million. So far in 2013, Energy Transfer Partners has announced a number of positive events: the acquisition of Holdco from Energy Transfer Equity (ETE); the selling of its interest in the Southern Union Company to Regency Energy Partners for cash and Regency units; and that its Sunoco Logistics (SXL) subsidiary entered an agreement to move forward with a liquefied petroleum gas project. In particular, we’re excited about … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending October 27

by

Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending October 27. 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 1st Constitution Bancorp (FCCY): now $0.06 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.05. Abaxis (ABAX): now $0.16 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.14. AbbVie (ABBV): now $0.71 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.64. AFLAC (AFL): now $0.45 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.43. Agnico Eagle (AEM): now $0.11 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.10. Alliance Holdings (AHGP): now $0.735 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.73. Alliance Resource … Read more

Midstreams Going C-Corp, Should SEC Disallow the Measure Distributable Cash Flow?

by

Key Takeaways It’s important to differentiate the concept of enterprise free cash flow valuation and the idea of capital-market dependence. The uncertainty of the MLP business model remains, as it is clear operators are shunning the MLP business model preferring C-Corps instead. According to work from Global X Funds, now 40% of the energy infrastructure market cap consists of C-Corps, up considerably from just 15% at the end of 2014. Though many simplifications have come with implied distribution cuts, the primary reason for the rise in C-Corps across the midstream space has been the rationalizing of excess MLP valuations to enterprise free cash flow assessments. We encourage the SEC to consider disallowing the use of distributable cash flow, as it … Read more

MLPs Breaking Out But More Questions

by

As we stated when we added exposure to the energy sector October 6 (see here), we’d be fools not to acknowledge the technical breakout in units of master limited partnerships the past few weeks. The group still has a long way to go to get back to “even,” but for the sake of retirees who are “DRIPping” into these equities, we sincerely hope some losses can be recuperated. Our experience tells us, however, that the road won’t be an easy one, but we are hoping chartists will be piling into units in the coming days. Fundamental investors may not be aware of this “technical” catalyst to come, but the breakout could be a big one. MLP investors have lost so … Read more