Pipeline companies have been reporting earnings. As has been the case recently, they’ve been generally coming in as expected, reflecting the stability in their underlying businesses. In many cases it’s hard to see much Covid impact at all. Williams Companies (WMB) reported 3Q adjusted EBITDA down 1% year-on-year. Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) was similar. A bigger story has been […]
On Wednesday Exxon Mobil (XOM) declared a quarterly dividend of 82 cents a share. Although this means 2020 will be the first year since 1982 that they haven’t raised it, the bigger question is whether they can sustain it. We noted recently how energy investors could fare better under a Democrat administration (see Why Exxon […]
Energy Transfer’s (ET) 50% distribution cut announced late on Monday surprised most observers. Given the comfortable 1.4-1.5X DCF coverage this year and next, many felt that there was little pressure to reduce it. However, the persistently high yield (18% before the announcement), reflected widespread investor skepticism around its sustainability. Debt:EBITDA of 5X is higher than the prevailing 4-4.5X standard for investment grade names in the sector. The […]
Few would believe there’s a midstream energy infrastructure stock that’s tripled this year, but New Fortress Energy (NFE) has done just that. Happily, it’s a component in the American Energy Independence Index (AEITR). This year’s strong performance has NFE approaching a top ten position, since AEITR is market cap weighted. NFE was founded in 2014 by Wes Edens, […]
MLPs have been losing relevance to the midstream energy infrastructure sector for years. The Shale Revolution caused them to evolve from reliable generators of income to growth-seeking enterprises. As upstream companies plowed money into drilling, pipeline companies felt compelled to add new infrastructure to service them. The capital spending spigot had already been ratcheted down since 2018, […]
Although we rarely write about technical analysis, charts are helpful in showing visually where prices have come from. We also have a good number of clients who use charts to form investment opinions. This is especially true when it comes to changing portfolio allocations. Recently, bullish energy sector charts have come up in conversations. The […]
In recent weeks, 2021 natural gas have been quietly moving higher. November ’21 futures have rallied over 40 cents, to just under $3 per Thousand Cubic Feet (MCF). Covid and the election are both behind this. Research reports from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley both explore energy markets through the pandemic and likely policy changes […]
The energy sector has long been criticized for reinvesting too much capital back into its business, without ensuring that such investments exceed their cost of capital. No business can survive unless its return on investments is more than the cost of financing them. Equitrans Midstream Corporation (ETRN) has an opportunity to demonstrate that they understand […]
Targa Resources, a perennial mis-allocator of capital, is not an obvious candidate to initiate a buyback program. Nonetheless they did on Monday, and the stock rose almost 11% on the news. In February last year, when Joe Bob Perkins was CEO, he responded to questions about their capex plans by arrogantly calling them “capital blessings.” […]
The positive Presidential Covid test has provided plenty of material for the media. Trump’s known physical disposition is being compared with tables of statistics to assess his likely prognosis. The Financial Times noted that he is in the “vulnerable” population, and gave him 20% odds of requiring hospitalization with a 5% risk of death. Regardless […]
