First Trust New Opportunities MLP & Energy Fund Declares October Monthly Dividend

Fund is paying 10 cents with a forward dividend yield of 10.17%

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Sep 25, 2017
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The First Trust New Opportunities MLP and Energy Fund (FPL, Financial) declared its October monthly dividend on Sept. 20. The Fund will pay 10.5 cents per share on Oct. 16 with an ex-dividend date of Oct. 2.

The fund has been paying a steady monthly dividend since 2014. Currently trading at $12.38, the fund has a forward dividend yield of 10.17%. The fund’s dividend has been at 10.5 cents since October 2015.

Year to date, the fund is reporting a return of -3.65%. For the one-year period, it has a return of -7.61%.

The fund seeks a high level of total return with a focus on shareholder distributions. It is focused on energy market investments and invests in both equity and debt securities. Its investments include publicly traded master limited partnerships as well as equity and debt securities in the energy and energy utilities industries. The majority of the fund is typically invested in equity securities at 65% or more. The fund also uses derivatives with options accounting for up to 35% of the portfolio.

As of July 31, the fund’s top holdings included Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD), Oneok Inc. (OKE) and Spectra Energy Partners L.P. (SEP).

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The fund’s investments span a wide range of sectors across the energy and utilities markets. As of July 31, its top allocation was to petroleum product transmission at 28.58% followed by natural gas transmission at 28.29%.

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The fund currently has 25.1 million shares outstanding with a market cap of $301.1 million. It is structured as a closed-end fund and was launched in March 2014. Its investment advisor is First Trust Advisors L.P. and it is subadvised by Energy Income Partners LLC.

Other funds managed by First Trust with ex-dividend dates also on Oct. 2 include the following:

Disclosure: I do not own any shares of FPL. I own FDEU.