UPDATE: Stifel Nicolaus Initiates Coverage on Capital Product Partners LP with Buy Rating, $12 PT on Strong Market Position

In a report published Thursday, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Benjamin Nolan initiated coverage on

with a Buy rating and $12.00 price target. In the report, Stifel Nicolaus noted, “We are initiating coverage of Capital Product Partners (CPLP) with a Buy rating and a $12 price target on the shares. Currently, CPLP units trade at a distribution yield of 9.6%, and with strong sponsor support, we believe those distributions are sustainable. Furthermore, with a strong position in the product tanker segment, in which we believe the fundamentals are improving, we believe the company could actually begin to see cash flow improvements enabling the partnership to potentially increase distributions. Our price target is based on the units trading at about an 8% yield which is a discount to the peer group on our 2014 DPU estimate of $0.96.” Capital Product Partners LP closed on Wednesday at $9.67.