Endangered Dividends
More Midstream Cuts
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Dec. 11, 2016
Sunoco Logistics Partners LP's proposed acquisition of Energy Transfer Partners LP will result in a stealth distribution cut of 27 percent for the latter's unitholders. Meanwhile, Ferrellgas Partners LP slashed its payout by 81 percent. Readers who follow our Endangered Dividends List would have avoided this pain.
Dividend Safety: Interest Rates Matter
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Nov. 16, 2016
Thanks to 15 years of cutting operating risk and debt, not even a much higher spike in borrowing costs would threaten dividends of best-in-class utilities. With ample cash flow and minimum near-term borrowing needs, they can hold off until pension funds and other institutional buyers must return to the table. Unfortunately for the weaker credits covered in our Utility Report Card, rising interest rates could ratchet up the pressure on their balance sheets and force them to redeploy cash that they currently pay out as dividends.
Boom! Goes the Dividend
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Oct. 11, 2016
We weren't surprised when Ferrellgas Partners LP (NYSE: FGP) announced that the master limited partnership may need to cut its distribution by 50 percent.
A New Threat
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Sep. 12, 2016
Soft commodity prices, declining oil and gas production in some regions, counterparty risk and elevated costs of capital have threatened midstream master limited partnerships’ distributions over the past two years.
Narrow Escapes and Dividend Cuts
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Aug. 13, 2016
Four companies made strategic moves or posted second-quarter results that earned them an escape from the Endangered Dividends List. Within our coverage universe, three energy stocks we highlighted as being at risk of a dividend cut lived up to expectations.
Dividend Shrink Ray Targets Small-Cap Telecoms
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Jul. 10, 2016
Size isn’t everything in the telecom sector, but it is important.
Rally in Energy Prices Brings Relief
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Jun. 12, 2016
Sometimes a rising tide lifts all boats. The sharp recovery in oil and gas prices since mid-February has convinced all too many investors that the risk of further distribution cuts among energy-focused master limited partnerships (MLP) has declined. The immediate response to the indiscriminate selling of late 2015 and early 2016 has been a wave of indiscriminate buying. But selectivity will be critical going forward.
No Cuts, But Plenty of Risks
By
Roger S. Conrad on
May. 8, 2016
First-quarter earnings season has included a raft of weak results and guidance reductions from the more than 200 essential-service companies in our Utility Report Card.
Two Big Dividend Cuts and More on the Way
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Apr. 11, 2016
Two companies in our coverage universe cut their dividends last month. We look at what went wrong and add four names to our Endangered Dividends List.
A Wave of Dividend Cuts
By
Roger S. Conrad on
Mar. 10, 2016
Nine of the more than 200 companies covered in our Utility Report Card have slashed their dividends since we posted the February issue of Conrad’s Utility Investor.
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Top 10 DRIPs
Nothing compounds wealth like reinvesting a rising stream of dividends.
Endangered Dividends List
Warning: Falling Dividends.
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