Exploring USD Partners LP (USDP) Investor Profile: Who’s Buying and Why?

You're looking at USD Partners LP (USDP) and asking the right questions: who is still buying this, and why? Honestly, the investor profile for this Master Limited Partnership (MLP)-a publicly traded entity that primarily owns energy assets-is less about institutional conviction and more about a final, complex wind-down. The hard truth is that institutional ownership has collapsed to a negligible level, holding only about 0.00352% of the total shares, which translates to a mere 1,190 shares in the hands of major funds. With the sale of the final operating asset, the Hardisty Rail Terminal, completed in April 2025, the company's focus shifted entirely to dissolution, leaving its market capitalization at a paltry $243.18 thousand as of November 2025. The latest full-year financials before that final sale showed a net loss of -$52.34 million, so the near-term risk is clear: this is a liquidation play, not a growth story. The real question isn't who's buying, but who's left holding the bag, and what is the defintely final value of their claim?

Who Invests in USD Partners LP (USDP) and Why?

You're looking at USD Partners LP (USDP), and you need to understand who is still buying into a Master Limited Partnership (MLP) that has publicly announced its plan to wind down. The direct takeaway is that the investor base is almost entirely dominated by the general public, driven by high-risk speculation on the final liquidation value, not traditional growth or income.

The company's announcement on January 21, 2025, regarding the expected sale of its final operating asset, the Hardisty Rail Terminal, on or before mid-April 2025, fundamentally changed the investment thesis. The subsequent plan to wind down or dissolve means the traditional MLP appeal is gone. This is a liquidation play, defintely not a long-term hold.

Key Investor Types: A Retail-Dominated Landscape

The ownership breakdown for USD Partners LP is highly unusual for a publicly traded entity, reflecting its current status as a distressed asset preparing for dissolution. Institutional interest is virtually non-existent, leaving the float in the hands of the general public, which means individual, or retail, investors.

Here's the quick math on the ownership structure:

• General Public (Retail): Owns approximately 33,773,237 shares, representing nearly 100% of the outstanding common units.
• Institutions: Hold a mere 1,190 shares, equating to a tiny 0.00352% ownership stake.

This breakdown shows that major financial players, like BlackRock or Vanguard, have almost entirely exited or avoided the stock. The few institutional holders that remain are typically exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the MLP sector, like the Global X MLP ETF, which is obligated to hold the units until they are delisted or removed from the index.

Investment Motivations: The Liquidation Bet

For the retail investors who still hold or are buying, the motivation is not about the core business-midstream infrastructure and logistics solutions for crude oil and biofuels-which you can read more about at USD Partners LP (USDP): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money. Instead, the motivation is a speculative bet on the wind-down process.

The key drivers are:

• Liquidation Value Speculation: The primary hope is that the proceeds from the sale of the Hardisty Rail Terminal, after paying off the revolving credit facility debt, will leave a small amount of residual cash for common unitholders. This is a high-risk, high-reward gamble, especially since the Partnership expects to have substantial remaining borrowings outstanding even after the sale.
• No Income Prospect: The traditional MLP motivation of income is gone; the dividend yield is reported as 0.00% as of November 2025, with the last payment occurring in February 2023.
• Low Entry Price: With the stock price trading around $0.01 per unit as of November 20, 2025, the barrier to entry is extremely low. This attracts highly speculative capital looking for a multi-bagger return if the liquidation yields even a few cents per unit.

Investment Strategies: Short-Term Trading and Deep Value

The strategies employed by the remaining investor base are a mix of short-term trading and a highly aggressive form of value investing known as deep value or stub investing.

The high volatility and low price point-with a Market Cap of only about $243.1759 thousand as of November 2025-make it a perfect vehicle for short-term traders.

• Short-Term Trading: Given the low unit price and the over-the-counter (OTC) trading status, small news items or large block trades can cause massive percentage swings. Traders are looking to capture these rapid price movements, often holding for days or even hours, not years.
• Deep Value/Stub Investing: This strategy involves buying the common units at a near-zero price, betting that the total liquidation value (assets minus liabilities) will exceed the current market capitalization. The investor is essentially valuing the stub equity-what's left after debt is settled-and hoping for a payout greater than the current $0.01 price.

What this estimate hides is the significant risk: the Partnership's intention to wind down or dissolve suggests the residual value for common unitholders could be zero. The risk is total capital loss. Finance: draft a clear risk disclosure for any USDP investment by Monday.

Institutional Ownership and Major Shareholders of USD Partners LP (USDP)

If you're looking at USD Partners LP (USDP) and trying to map the institutional money flow, the first thing you need to see is the scale. As of the 2025 fiscal year data, institutional ownership is defintely a non-factor. We're talking about a tiny fraction of the company's units.

Specifically, institutions hold a total of just 1,190 common units. When you compare that to the total outstanding units, institutional investors own a mere 0.00352% of USD Partners LP. This is a critical data point that tells you the investment thesis is not driven by the big funds.

Top Institutional Investors and Their Stakes

The list of the largest institutional holders is short, reflecting the minimal overall stake. The data reported from the 2025 fiscal year shows that the institutional base is highly concentrated, but the dollar value is negligible. Here's the quick math: the total institutional holding of 1,190 shares is spread across a handful of entities.

The top institutional investors, based on their most recent 13F filings, are listed below. Note the share counts are extremely low, which is a direct signal of the market's view on the partnership's future given its recent strategic shift.

Recent Changes in Institutional Ownership

The institutional ownership picture for USD Partners LP has been static and low throughout 2025. The change percentages for the top holders are essentially zero, meaning no significant buying or selling activity has been reported in the most recent filings. This lack of movement is a strong indicator of the market's wait-and-see approach, especially considering the company's operational status.

The real story isn't a change in institutional stake, but the change in the company itself. USD Partners LP has been in the process of selling its operating assets. For example, the sale of its final operating asset, the Hardisty Rail Terminal, was expected to be completed by mid-April 2025. This action was mandated by lenders under a forbearance agreement, which is a major red flag for any investor. You simply don't see institutional buying when a company is winding down operations under creditor pressure.

Impact of Institutional Investors on Strategy

When institutional ownership is less than one-tenth of one percent, the traditional impact of these large investors-like influencing management or driving stock price-is non-existent. They are passive, minimal holders. The stock price is not being moved by a BlackRock or a Vanguard; it's being driven by the fundamental, existential risk facing the partnership.

The strategic direction of USD Partners LP is instead controlled by two much more powerful forces:

• The General Partner: The General Partner and its affiliates, indirectly owned by US Development Group, LLC, held 51.2% of the voting limited partnership interests as of August 1, 2024. This majority ownership is the true strategic control point.
• The Lenders: The company's recent strategy-the sale of its key assets-was a direct mandate from the lenders under the revolving credit facility as a condition for a forbearance agreement. Creditors are the ones calling the shots now.

The current market reality is that the partnership expects to have substantial remaining borrowings outstanding after the asset sales, and is considering a plan to wind down or dissolve. In this environment, the small institutional holders are just along for the ride. You can read more about the foundational goals of the entity here: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of USD Partners LP (USDP).

Your clear action here is to recognize that this is a special situation driven by debt and asset liquidation, not by the usual institutional accumulation metrics.

Key Investors and Their Impact on USD Partners LP (USDP)

If you're looking at USD Partners LP (USDP) in late 2025, you need to understand that the traditional investor profile has vanished; the story is now about the sponsor and the creditors. The most notable investors are no longer institutional funds, but the insiders, whose control has been absolute during the partnership's wind-down.

The most critical event this year was the sale of the final operating asset, the Hardisty Rail Terminal, which was completed on April 10, 2025. This wasn't a strategic pivot driven by a fund manager, but a forced sale mandated by the company's lenders. This is a crucial distinction for your analysis.

The Dominant Force: Sponsor and Insiders

The true power in USD Partners LP resides with the sponsor, US Development Group LLC (USD), which indirectly owns the General Partner, USD Partners GP LLC. In a Master Limited Partnership (MLP), the General Partner controls the board and strategic direction, regardless of the public common unit holders' stake.

The sponsor's influence is the single most important factor. They approved the final asset sale as the holder of a majority of the outstanding common units, which is a classic move in a distress scenario. Honestly, for the retail investor, this means you have no real say in the outcome.

• Sponsor/Insider Holding: 7.28% as of August 2025.
• Institutional Holding: 0.00% as of August 2025.
• Total Common Units Outstanding: 33,774,427 as of March 8, 2025.

The Institutional Exodus and Near-Zero Ownership

Institutional investors have made their move: they have exited. The institutional ownership of USD Partners LP is effectively non-existent, sitting at a reported 0.00% as of August 2025. This is a clear signal of the market's view on the partnership's future.

To be fair, a few small funds, like Main Street Group, LTD and MLPA - Global X MLP ETF, were noted in earlier filings, but their combined holdings were minimal-just 1,190 shares in one reported instance. Their influence is negligible. When a company is in a wind-down phase, funds with fiduciary duties have to sell to avoid holding a non-operating asset with an uncertain liquidation value.

Here's the quick math on what near-zero institutional ownership means: the stock price, which was trading around $0.01 per unit as of November 2025, is primarily driven by retail speculation and the final, uncertain steps of the wind-down process.

Recent Moves: Creditors, Not Investors, Driving Action

The recent actions are all about debt restructuring, not investment growth. The partnership was compelled to sell its final asset by the lenders under its revolving credit facility. The lenders were the real activist investors here, forcing a sale due to the Partnership's failure to meet certain credit facility milestones.

The sale of the Hardisty Rail Terminal in April 2025 was the final step in a process that is expected to lead to the termination of the credit facility and a write-off of the remaining debt balance. This sets the stage for the Partnership to 'wind down or dissolve.' This is the only action that changes the decision for investors.

What this estimate hides is that common unitholders are now at the bottom of the capital structure. Any remaining value, after the lenders and other creditors are satisfied, will determine the final fate of the 33,774,427 outstanding units. For a deeper look at the original strategy, you can review the Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of USD Partners LP (USDP).

The next concrete step for any current or prospective investor is to monitor the SEC filings for the final disclosure on the debt write-off and the formal plan to wind down or dissolve the partnership.

Market Impact and Investor Sentiment

You're looking at USD Partners LP (USDP) and wondering why anyone is still holding, let alone buying, a stock trading for around $0.01 as of November 2025. The direct takeaway is that institutional investors have essentially exited, leaving a small, highly speculative retail base to trade what is now a liquidation play, not an operating business.

Investor sentiment is overwhelmingly negative, driven by the critical event of the 2025 fiscal year: the sale of the Partnership's final operating asset, the Hardisty Rail Terminal, which was completed on April 10, 2025. This sale was a mandatory move, directed by lenders under a forbearance agreement, which signals financial distress and an effective wind-down of the core midstream logistics business. Any remaining value is tied to the final distribution of cash from the asset sales after debt obligations are met.

Here's the quick math on the ownership structure: the General Partner and its affiliates, indirectly owned by US Development Group, LLC, maintain control, holding 51.2% of the limited partnership interests entitled to vote. This means the public float is essentially trading a minority stake in a dissolving entity, which is why the market capitalization is minimal. The total outstanding common units were 33,774,427 as of March 8, 2025. This is a clear case where the General Partner's interests, focused on debt resolution, override public unitholder sentiment.

Market Reactions to Asset Liquidation

The stock market's response to the major ownership change-the shift from a functioning Master Limited Partnership (MLP) to a liquidating entity-has been brutal, but also predictable. The delisting from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and subsequent trading on the OTC market at a mere $0.01 per unit as of late 2025 is the most telling reaction. One clean one-liner: The market priced in the end of the business.

The market responded sharply to the January 21, 2025, announcement of the expected sale of the final asset and the official April 10, 2025, completion. This is not a growth stock anymore; it's a residual claim on whatever cash is left. The trailing twelve months (TTM) Earnings Per Share (EPS) sits at just $0.02, reflecting the minimal remaining financial activity.

The 'buying' that remains is largely speculative, often by retail investors who are either unaware of the liquidation status or are making a high-risk bet on a small final cash distribution that exceeds the unit price. You can track the full history of this transition, including the original structure and mission, by reviewing USD Partners LP (USDP): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money.

The Institutional Exodus and Retail Dominance

The 'who's buying' question is best answered by looking at who is not buying: the major funds. Institutional ownership has collapsed to approximately <0.01% of the outstanding units. This is a massive red flag for any traditional investor.

The institutional flight is a significant signal of a lack of confidence in any meaningful residual value for limited partners. The few remaining institutional holders are likely passive index funds or small investment groups with an insignificant amount of capital tied up.

• Institutional Holdings: Approximately <0.01%
• Total Institutional Shares: Around 1,190 units
• Retail/Public Ownership: Approximately 99.88%

To be fair, institutional investors like BlackRock and Vanguard have mandates that prevent them from holding micro-cap, OTC-traded units in liquidation. The remaining ownership is dominated by individual investors-the retail crowd-who are often less constrained by investment policy statements (IPS). Honestly, this is a ticker for the casino, not the portfolio.

Analyst Perspectives on a Dissolving Entity

The most important insight from the analyst community is the silence. As of November 2025, there are effectively no Wall Street analyst ratings or price targets for USD Partners LP (USDP). This is a critical indicator of the company's status.

When a company sells its final operating asset and is trading on the OTC, it falls off the radar for sell-side research. An analyst's job is to forecast future cash flows, but with the core business sold, there is no operating cash flow to model. The last major financial filing was the 2024 Annual Unaudited Financial Statements posted on March 10, 2025, and while a Q3 2025 earnings report was expected in November 2025, the data will primarily reflect administrative costs and the final accounting of the asset sale proceeds.

What this estimate hides is the true risk: the debt holders get paid first. The General Partner's primary focus, as mandated by the forbearance agreement, is to satisfy the lenders. Any impact from key investors is negligible because the General Partner controls the outcome, and the remaining public investors have little leverage. Your next step, if you are a current unitholder, is to contact Investor Relations and ask for the specific timeline and estimated residual cash distribution per unit, if any, following the debt settlement.