Niska Gas Storage Partners Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Niska Gas Storage Partners (NYS: NKA) fell as much as 26% today after the company released earnings.

So what: Overall, revenues increased 9.9% to 45.8 million and net earnings improved to $4.6 million. But Niska is paying out more than it is current taking in, and unless conditions improve, it may have to lower its distributions.

Now what: For the most recent quarter, Niska paid a cash distribution of $0.35 per share and shares traded ex-dividend after the close of trading on August 5. Master limited partnership investors should mainly be concerned about a company's ability to pay distributions to shareholders -- and right now that's shrinking. I would be leery of buying shares of Niska today considering management's statements about deteriorating conditions in the market.

Interested in more info on Niska Gas Storage Partners? Add it to your watchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Travis Hoium does not have a position in any company mentioned. You can follow Travis on Twitter at @FlushDrawFool, check out his personal stock holdings or follow his CAPS picks at TMFFlushDraw.Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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