Boston, MA 05/20/2014 (wallstreetpr) – AmeriGas Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APU), one of the premier retail propane marketers in the U.S, announced their detailed earnings and market overview in Q1-2014, recently. Currently, the company possesses a market capitalization of 4.3 billion and Enterprise Value or EV of approximately 6 billion.
Allegations and Subpoenas
Of late, AmeriGas Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APU) trended in the news as the state of Michigan and inquired into the price rise of propane last winter, and has thus, Bill Schuette (Attorney General) sought for a subpoena against AmeriGas Partners LP. In fact, more than 400 APU complained about a significant price hike last winter. Kate Stickel, representing APU, snapped that she is confident that under no perceived circumstance, any consumer protection law hasn’t been violated. However, she opted to review the allegations, introspect and come to inferences!
The Last Quarter
AmeriGas Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APU) has fared quite well, enhancing its EPS of $1.61/share in Q2-2013 to $1.71/share in Q2-2014. The revenues in Q2-2014 stood at $1.49 billion, swinging higher YoY, than in Q2-2013 by a significant 27%. Coming off a modestly strong quarter, the company announced about their annualized dividend payouts of $3.52 to the stakeholders; this breaks down to $0.88/share per quarter. There has been significant yields in dividend payout by 7.83%, from $0.84 in Q2-2013.
CEO Positive On Growth
Colder winters had forged unforeseen and unprecedented volatility in propane prices. Jerry E. Sheridan, the CEO of AmeriGas hinted at the industry-wide supply grumbles as the primary reason behind AmeriGas Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APU) facing undue hardships across the eastern half. The CEO conjectured that transportation Bottleneck predicaments appeared tough to be handled, especially when it came to urgent redeployment of transportation machinery and assets to delivery areas that required them most.
Signs of Recovery, Since Last Winter
As half a year is already over, the CEO estimates to the best of the non-winter months to execute and achieve myriad goals – the primary anticipation that the company has, is obtaining EBITDA between $660 and $675 million in FY 2014-15. Revenues have already begun to bolster – hopping from $1.18 billion YoY to $1.49 billion currently, as distribution increased last quarter, over the penultimate, by 60%.
