Rising payouts make Buckeye a buy

Article Excerpt

BUCKEYE PARTNERS L.P. $54 (New York symbol BPL; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Units outstanding: 51.4 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 6.9%; WSSF Rating: Average) operates over 8,700 kilometres of pipelines in the northeastern and midwestern U.S. that pump gasoline, jet fuel and other petroleum products. The partnership also operates 3,900 kilometres of pipelines on behalf of major oil and chemical companies. Aside from pipelines, it owns oil and natural-gas storage terminals and other related businesses. Fewer people are flying or driving because of the weak economy. That has hurt fuel demand, and Buckeye’s revenue. In response, the partnership has laid off 260 employees, or 25% of its workforce. This cost Buckeye $29.1 million in severance and other one-time payments. However, it expects these measures will lower its annual expenses by $18 million to $22 million by mid-2010. If you exclude restructuring charges, Buckeye’s earnings rose 26.4% in the three months ended September 30, 2009, to $58.9 million…