UPDATE: Bank of America Merrill Lynch Initiates Coverage on Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund with Neutral Rating

In a report published Monday, Bank of America Merrill Lynch initiated coverage on Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund

with a Neutral rating. BofA Merrill Lynch noted, “We are initiating coverage of Tortoise Pipeline and Energy Fund with a Neutral rating. We expect modest dividend growth over the medium term at TTP driven by 1) ~40% of its current investment income is derived from premiums received from call options written and we view option income as lower quality than dividend income derived from TTP's underlying portfolio holdings, 2) ~16% exposure to more commodity sensitive oil and gas majors, and 3) we do not expect TTP to refinance over the near-term given its already low cost of leverage. TTP's current dividend yield of 6.3% is slightly above the 6.1% yield of the Alerian MLP Index (AMZ).” Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund closed on Friday at $25.80.