Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) Trading 4.9% Higher – What’s Next?

Shares of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) rose 4.9% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $37.31 and last traded at $37.1570. Approximately 9,285,319 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 77% from the average daily volume of 5,245,027 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EPD shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $39.00 target price (up previously from $36.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Friday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.00.

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Up 4.9%

The firm has a market cap of $80.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.84 and a 200-day moving average of $31.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.06. Enterprise Products Partners had a return on equity of 19.43% and a net margin of 11.05%.The company had revenue of $13.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.9%. This is a boost from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Enterprise Products Partners’s payout ratio is 82.71%.

Enterprise Products Partners declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas producer to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John R. Rutherford purchased 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.09 per share, for a total transaction of $481,350.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 173,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,570,374.74. This trade represents a 9.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 32.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,145 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,125,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Walker Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Enterprise Products Partners by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 19,678 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 32,311 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after buying an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP increased its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 32,348 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Enterprise Products Partners

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) is a Houston-based master limited partnership that provides midstream energy services across North America. The company owns and operates an extensive network of pipelines, storage facilities, processing plants and export terminals that transport and handle natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined and petrochemical products. Its core activities include gathering and transportation, fractionation of NGLs, natural gas processing, crude oil and condensate pipelines, and marine and terminal services that enable domestic distribution and exports.

Enterprise serves a diverse set of customers including producers, refiners, petrochemical companies, marketers and end users.