Cedar Fair takes steps to lower its debt

Article Excerpt

CEDAR FAIR L.P. $9.95 (New York symbol FUN; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Units outstanding: 55.6 million; Market cap: $553.2 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; WSSF Rating: Average) has cut its quarterly distribution by 47.9%, to $0.25 a unit from $0.48. The new annual rate of $1.00 yields 10.1%. The cut should help the partnership pay down $200 million of its $1.8 billion long-term debt over the next three years. In order to pay down more debt, Cedar Fair is looking at selling its amusement parks in Minneapolis, Kansas City and Santa Clara, California. It also wants to sell some land near Cleveland and Toronto. The recession will probably limit interest in these properties, but Cedar Fair’s eight remaining parks should continue to generate enough cash flow to let it meet its obligations. Cedar Fair is a buy. buy…