Tallgrass Energy Partners LP (NYSE:TEP) has been struggling over the past 12 months. Year to date, TEP stock is down 17%. And in the past 12 months, the stock has sunk nearly 30%.

Usually that would be enough to give most investors pause and look for opportunities elsewhere. But that’s not the case for Tallgrass.

First, TEP is an midstream player in the Bakken Shale, a rich shale deposit that covers North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana. The oil that is accessed in the Bakken is from “unconventional” methods. Generally, that means either fracking or horizontal drilling.

Fracking means the “upstream” exploration and production firms (E&Ps) have to fracture the shale that covers the oil underneath. Using a slurry of water and chemicals, know as ‘sand’ in the industry, it breaks apart the shale and allows access to the natural gas and oil.

Horizontal drilling is a new technology for drilling one well and then running that line horizontally across other deposits. So, instead of having to drill four wells, you only have to drill one. It also allows E&Ps to access deposits that likely wouldn’t be worth going after if you had to spend the money to drill it individually.

All this oil and gas needs to get from the Bakken to market, and that’s where the midstream players like TEP come in.

Tallgrass stock has thousands of miles of pipeline that distribute the oil and natural gas out to various distribution points, including refineries. A good 90% of TEP’s business is its midstream operations.

And according to its recent Q4 earnings release in mid-February, everything is going well for Tallgrass. Most of its pipeline routes are running near full capacity. And with demand returning and prices high, TEP is operating in a sweet spot.

The Problems for Tallgrass Stock

If things are so good, why is the stock floundering?

Debt.

Tallgrass stock has $2.8 billion market cap but its competitors are an order of magnitude bigger. That means in order for TEP to compete, it has to grow. And to grow, it means taking on debt.

And TEP has taken on some significant debt.

However, given the revival of the U.S. energy patch and the expanding economy, TEP may well grow itself out of this. And that is precisely the opportunity here.

While Wall Street worries about Tallgrass’ debt, the stock languishes. But if it can grow itself out, Tallgrass stock will soar. Bear in mind, TEP stock has averaged more than 14% a year for the past 5 years, and some of those years have been tough.

What’s more, right now TEP stock is throwing off a stunning 10.3% dividend yield. If it gets into a cash crunch it will likely cut its dividend to service the debt. But that’s all right.

Say it cuts its dividend in half, and pays down its debt — it’s still delivering a 5% dividend. There’s some risk here, but the bet is on growth, and if TEP delivers, it will be worth the ride.

Louis Navellier is a renowned growth investor. He is the editor of five investing newsletters: Blue Chip Growth, Emerging Growth, Ultimate Growth, Family Trust and Platinum Growth. His most popular service, Blue Chip Growth, has a track record of beating the market 3:1 over the last 14 years. He uses a combination of quantitative and fundamental analysis to identify market-beating stocks. Mr. Navellier has made his proven formula accessible to investors via his free, online stock rating tool, PortfolioGrader.com. Louis Navellier may hold some of the aforementioned securities in one or more of his newsletters.