Chasing Value: High yield thru Boardwalk's pipes

Filed under: Stocks to Buy, Loews Corporation (L), Boardwalk Partners (BWP)

Loews, which owns stakes in insurance company CNA Financial Corp. as well as oil and gas companies and hotels, paid $23.13 per share, Friday's closing price, was $19.49 so your buying at a discount to the general partner.

Boardwalk said the cost to complete three pipeline projects is estimated at $3.9 billion. It has financed the projects to date with a combination of equity and debt issuance, cash from operations and by borrowing from the partnership's $1 billion revolving credit facility.

Lowes is the largest shareholder with a 70% equity interest. Boardwalk Pipeline Partners is in the business of interstate transportation, gathering, and storage of natural gas. The company operates through two subsidiaries -- Texas Gas Transmission and Gulf South Pipeline Company -- with a combined 13,550 miles of pipeline in 11 states.

Natural gas prices are down significantly, but I think most investors and users of natural gas alike think that is temporary and the price which is cyclical is near a low point and destined to go up. In the mean time BWP is off its 52 week high of $32.25, down in line with the overall market. The difference here is that BWP has almost a 10% yield while trading at a price to book value near 1.0. It seems to me that this stock will reward your patience while they expand the network and later when gas prices rise as expected.

Last weeks gas prices: At the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) The January 2009 contract settled at $5.686 per MMBtu.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture and planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I do not own shares of BWP or L, but I am considering them.

Chasing Value: High yield thru Boardwalk's pipes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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