Allegheny Energy (AYE): Coattail Opportunity
“AYE is an electric utility that provides generation and transmission of power in western Pennsylvania and parts of Virginia and Maryland. As a regulated entity, AYE is currently selling power at below market prices within its service territory. The state of Pennsylvania has agreed to allow AYE to transition to market rates over the next three years. In addition, AYE is investing over $1 billion into the regulated transmission side of its business that will go towards balancing the power needs of the PJM service territory (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland). AYE has been authorized to earn a 14% rate of return on this investment. As a result of charging market rates for power and higher earnings projects coming on the line, we expect AYE’s earnings per share will improve from $2.30 in 2008 to almost $3.00 in 2009 and $4.00 in 2010. We bought AYE shares at an average cost of $28.26 per share, or less than 10x estimated 2009 EPS and about 7x estimated 2010 EPS. AYE ended the quarter at $33.86 per share.”
David Einhorn
Greenlight Capital 2008 Annual Letter
Hey Cogitator,
Long time reader, love your stuff.
You mind sharing how you got your hands on the Greenlight Capital 2008 Annual Letter?
Thanks in advance for the tip…
Interesting. AYE barely traded in the $28-29 range during 4Q08, and has since traded much lower.
A fair amount of Greenlight’s entry/exits seem to be short term trading calls justified by long term investment theses.