UPDATE: Stifel Upgrades NuStar Energy LP Following Strong First Quarter

In a report published Thursday, Stifel analyst Selman Akyol upgraded the rating on

from Hold to Buy, and named a $62.00 price target. In the report, Stifel noted, “The Partnership posted its strongest first quarter results in the last five years in part due to the discontinuation of its Asphalt business as well as stronger results in its Fuels Marketing segment. Also contributing to this quarter's success was contracting 5 million barrels of storage capacity at St. Eustatius. Coverage for the quarter was 0.91x and management reiterated its 2014 goal of returning to 1.0x coverage ratio. "While the balance sheet remains leveraged at 4.4x debt to EBITDA, we believe the improving unit price offers management an opportunity to deleverage its balance sheet at some point. We are raising our rating to Buy and establishing a target price of $62.00 which is based on a yield target of 7.0% which compares favorably to their peer group average of 5.2%.” NuStar Energy LP closed on Wednesday at $56.95.