You Wouldn't Believe Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. 's Book Value

The stock of retail propane distributor Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. (NYSE: FGP) is trading near all-time lows. That's impressive given that its shares have been publicly traded since 1994. How did we get to this point?

It all started when management cut the distribution payment by 80% to focus on cleaning up the balance sheet. The company has maintained a considerable amount of debt for many consecutive years, but things began getting a little out of hand in 2016 after Ferrellgas Partners tried to build out midstream operations. It hasn't gone well.

In fact, summarizing the state of the balance sheet by simply saying "out of hand" may be generous. At the end of the most recent quarter, the company reported shareholders' equity of negative $703 million. That means Ferrellgas Partners has an unbelievable book value of negative $6.50 per share.

Source: Fool.com