Kinder Morgan Evenly Poised - Analyst Blog
17 Mai 2012 - 7:42PM
Zacks
We have maintained our Neutral recommendation on Kinder
Morgan Energy Partners L.P. (KMP) − the largest
independent owner and operator of petroleum product pipelines in
the U.S.
Kinder Morgan is one of the largest publicly traded master
limited partnerships (MLPs) and generally serves as a benchmark for
the pipeline MLP group. A focus on fee-based and diversified
businesses has enabled the partnership to distribute its business
risks. In addition, the CO2 business is a major growth
avenue for the partnership with the commodity price risk being
offset by a long-term hedging strategy.
Although the partnership delivered lower-than-expected first
quarter results, it experienced positive performances across each
of its business segments except Product Pipeline.
More importantly, the partnership hiked its quarterly cash
distribution per common unit to $1.20 ($4.80 annualized),
representing a 5% year-over-year growth. It was fueled by growth
opportunities in the midstream energy sector, with more emphasis on
the natural gas shale plays as well as in the coal export business.
It expects to declare a cash distribution of $4.98 per unit for
2012, an 8% increase over $4.61 per unit for 2011.
Again, agreement between Kinder Morgan Inc.
(KMI) and El Paso (EP) − believed to be one of the
largest energy transactions in recent years − is also expected to
dilute the impact of the partnership’s CO2 oil business
and offset a potential slowdown in demand of the refined products.
We believe that the partnership remains on track to achieve its
growth target, thanks to organic expansions, joint ventures and
acquisitions.
However, the partnership's Products Pipelines segment is
experiencing weak demand growth for refined products like jet fuel,
diesel and gasoline. In the first quarter, total refined products
volume declined 1.6% to 155.6 million barrels on an annualized
basis. Also, Kinder Morgan does not expect demand for the refined
product to recover in the foreseeable future.
Again, Kinder Morgan’s distribution growth prospects are closely
linked to the successful completion of organic growth projects,
which in turn might be adversely affected by operational hindrance,
cost inflation and overruns, and delays in completion.
Therefore, we see the partnership performing in line with the
broader market and retain a Zacks #3 Rank (short-term Hold
rating).
EL PASO CORP (EP): Free Stock Analysis Report
KINDER MORGAN (KMI): Free Stock Analysis Report
KINDER MORG ENG (KMP): Free Stock Analysis Report
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