Cedar Fair, L.P. $7.84 – New York symbol FUN

CEDAR FAIR L.P. $7.84 (New York symbol FUN; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Units outstanding: 55.1 million; Market cap: $432 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; WSSF Rating: Average) owns amusement parks, water parks and hotels in the U.S. and Canada. Cedar Fair pays quarterly distributions of $0.48 a unit, for a current yield of 24.5%. However, its $1.7- billion debt is a high 3.9 times its market cap. Cedar Fair will probably cut its distributions to free up cash for debt repayments. Even if it does, the lower rate would still yield around 10%. Meanwhile, attendance at Cedar Fair’s parks rose 3% in 2008, to 22.7 million visitors. However, inpark spending per guest fell 1.2%, which is why overall revenues rose just 0.9%, to $996.2 million from $987 million in 2007. Earnings improved to $0.10 a unit from a loss of $0.08. If you disregard a writedown of goodwill and other unusual items, per-unit earnings rose 94.6%, to $1.81 from $0.93. Lower gas prices, new roller coasters and more live shows should help spur Cedar Fair’s attendance in 2009. The units now trade at 5.6 times Cedar Fair’s forecast 2009 earnings of $1.39 a unit. Cedar Fair is a buy.

A professional investment analyst for more than 30 years, Pat has developed a stock-selection technique that has proven reliable in both bull and bear markets. His proprietary ValuVesting System™ focuses on stocks that provide exceptional quality at relatively low prices. Many savvy investors and industry leaders consider it the most powerful stock-picking method ever created.