I can’t vouch for the accuracy of this website, but if it is to believed, $TPL can be found in two (2) ETFs. Newfield Exploration Co ($NFX), an E&P headquartered in The Woodlands, TX with a market cap of $3.7B, can be found in 54 ETFs. NFX is member of the S&P500.
$XOM can be found in 114 ETFs.
Index inclusion doesn’t appear to be a magic bullet. $NFX trades at 5.3x trailing earnings.
Over the past 18mos TPL has evolved from a sleepy Trust to a fairly well known entity that is actively trying to grow EPS via a new and untested (water) strategy.
Can we argue that the purpose / ethos of the Trust has changed? I think yes.
Do counterparties look at the performance of TPL stock as a sign of health when deciding to contract for water or other services? Perhaps.
Do “big league” companies regularly have -7% down days in the complete absence of news? No.
Are such drawdowns good for the confidence of counterparties? No.
These things happen when the market makers “quote” the stock in 10 point markets. 10 points on $486 base price is 2%.
Is 2% an acceptable round trip trading cost for an entity with a $4B market cap? No.
The conventional argument against a split was that the Trust is interested in keeping the price low for buybacks. Well, where are they? It appears as if capital return is shifting to dividends.
If the return strategy is dividends, why should the Trust care about the price?
If they don’t care about the price, should the Trust split the stock to enhance liquidity? Yes.
The days of penny stock liquidity should be in the past for $TPL.
I remain a buyer.
The Texas Pacific Land Trust Investor 