Boardwalk Pipeline Shares Fall On Weak 1Q Report

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP slid on Tuesday a day after the company posted falling first-quarter profit that was hurt, in part, by faulty pipelines, which concerned analysts who downgraded, or cut their price targets, on the stock.

Shares of Boardwalk Pipeline dropped 74 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $20.16 in afternoon trading.

On Monday the company said its first-quarter profit fell 41 percent as expenses climbed and revenue diminished due to anomalies in expansion pipelines that forced the company to operate at reduced pressures.

Net income fell to $52 million, or 29 cents per unit, compared with $88.1 million, or 68 cents per unit, in the prior-year period. Revenue climbed 13 percent to $223.4 million from $197.3 million during the year-earlier period.

"To replace the affected joints, Boardwalk Pipeline will be required to shut down major portion of the pipeline during 2009," noted UBS analyst Ronald Barone, who lowered the company's 12-month price target to $25 from $26. Barone said he maintains a "Buy" rating on Boardwalk's stock.

Morgan Keegan analyst John Edwards downgraded the stock to "Market Perform" from "Outperform" due to the company's first-quarter miss and concerns about the pipeline integrity issues, which are expected to have a lingering impact over the next two quarters.