The first quarter of 2014 is coming to a close, and it was a slow one for MLP IPOs. The only MLP that debuted in the last three months was Cypress Energy Partners (NYSE: CELP), but there are several others in the pipeline. Here is how the IPO landscape looks as we end Q1.

Cypress debuted on Jan. 14 as the first MLP IPO of 2014. It sold 3,750,000 units at $20 per unit. CELP is a growth-oriented MLP providing saltwater disposal and other water and environmental services to US onshore oil and natural gas producers and trucking companies in North Dakota and west Texas. The partnership agreement calls for a minimum quarterly distribution of $0.3875 per unit for each whole quarter, or $1.55 per unit on an annualized basis. At Friday’s closing price of $21.87, that translates into an annualized yield of 7.1 percent.

The next IPO may be Enable Midstream Partners, which was formed in May 2013 as a joint venture by affiliates of CenterPoint Energy, OGE Energy and ArcLight Capital Partners. Enable Midstream Partners filed its S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) back in November, and the offering had been expected in the first quarter of 2014. An amended registration form was filed on Friday.

Enable Midstream is one of the largest midstream partnerships in the US, with energy infrastructure assets that include 11,000 miles of gathering pipelines, 12 major processing plants with approximately 2.1 billion cubic feet (Bcf)/d of processing capacity, 7,900 miles of interstate pipelines, 2,300 miles of intrastate pipelines and eight storage facilities comprising 86.5 Bcf of storage capacity. The partnership estimates that pro forma distributable cash flow (DCF) for the year ended Dec. 31 would have been approximately $541 million, and will total $550 million for the 12 months ending March 31, 2015.

In February, Antero Resources (NYSE: AR) filed an S-1 with the SEC for the initial public offering of an MLP comprised of its midstream assets. The filing indicated that Antero Resources Midstream LLC would be converted into a limited partnership named Antero Midstream Partners LP with a valuation of up to $500 million. Assets include a network of natural gas gathering pipelines and compressor stations that collects raw natural gas from Antero’s operations in the Marcellus and Utica shales. Also included: two independent water distribution systems used for well completions in the Marcellus and Utica shales.

In September, Dominion Resources (NYSE: D) became the fourth company to win approval from the Department of Energy for a license to export LNG from its Dominion Cove Point LNG facility on Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay. Now Dominion is forming an MLP that will own part of that facility.

Source: Dominion Midstream Partners S-1 filing

Last week Dominion Midstream Partners filed the initial registration statement for an IPO of up to $400 million of common units. The S-1 forecast attributes $47mm of distributable cash flow to Dominion Midstream Partners.

Last November Tulsa-based oil and gas producer WPX Energy (NYSE: WPX) announced its intention to spin off production assets in Colorado. WPX Energy Partners will hold working interests in mature natural gas properties in the Piceance Basin of Colorado. The announcement indicated a desire to carry out the IPO during the first half of 2014, but the company has yet to file forms with the SEC.

GasLog (NYSE: GLOG) owns, operates, and manages a fleet of LNG carriers. Two ships were delivered in 2010, five in 2013 and eight LNG carriers are on order. In January the company announced the intention to spin off assets into an MLP that would own certain of GLOG’s LNG carriers with multi-year charters.

Finally, international offshore drilling contractor Ocean Rig (Nasdaq: ORIG) has plans to drop down assets into an MLP in 2014. Seadrill Partners (NYSE: SDLP) is presently the only offshore driller structured as an MLP, and its rigs trade at a significant premium to those of Ocean Rig. Look for SEC filings related to this MLP during the second quarter.

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Portfolio Update

Warp Speed Ahead for Enterprise

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD) has had little time to celebrate another highly successful year. After placing into service major growth projects worth $2.3 billion last year, it has already matched that total so far in 2014, with another $2.5 billion set for completion during the remainder of the year and $3 billion more under construction set to be completed in future years.

Following the March 18 analyst meeting delineating the partnership’s many avenues for continuing growth, Credit Suisse upgraded EPD from Neutral to Outperform with a $78 price target, while Stifel raised its target from $70 to $75.

As the dominant propane exporter, Enterprise remains the biggest beneficiary from the rising tide of natural gas and NGLs pumped out of the domestic shale basins, and will be a key player in the petrochemical boom capitalizing on the this cheap feedstock as well. This, along with deeply ingrained financial conservatism and top-notch management, is why EPD remains our top-ranked Best Buy below $75.   

Enterprise also won an important regulatory victory last month when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission overturned an administrative law judge’s ruling that had threatened the negotiated rates on its expanded Seaway crude pipeline. We covered last year’s adverse ruling here.

— Igor Greenwald