Exercise caution when buying MLPs

Article Excerpt

U.S. master limited partnerships (MLPs) tend to offer much higher yields than other stocks. However, Canadian investors are subject to a U.S. withholding tax of roughly 35% on income from MLPs. (Note: investors can usually claim a Canadian tax credit to offset at least part of that tax.) As well, MLPs are not suitable for RRSPs or RRIFs. CEDAR FAIR L.P. $52 (New York symbol FUN; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Units outstanding: 56.4 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 6.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cedarfair.com) owns 11 amusement parks, three water parks (one indoor) and four hotels. In the quarter ended June 24, 2018, revenue fell 3.2%, to $380.3 million from $392.8 million a year earlier. That drop is mainly due to bad weather. Revenue from park admissions (54% of the total) fell 4.9%, while sales of food and merchandise (34%) declined 2.4%. However, revenue from Cedar Fair hotels (12%) rose 2.6%. The partnership earned $19.2 million, or $0.34 a unit, in…