Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) Trading 1.4% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD)’s share price traded up 1.4% during trading on Tuesday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $38.59 and last traded at $38.3450. 2,709,055 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 4,630,885 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.83.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on EPD. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $39.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Enterprise Products Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on Enterprise Products Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Enterprise Products Partners from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Enterprise Products Partners from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Enterprise Products Partners news, CEO Aj Teague purchased 2,665 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $37.55 per share, with a total value of $100,070.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 77,576 shares in the company, valued at $2,912,978.80. This represents a 3.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 32.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EPD. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 3,106.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 32,060,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $102,784,000 after buying an additional 31,060,000 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in Enterprise Products Partners during the third quarter worth approximately $292,194,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 18,163,343 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $582,317,000 after buying an additional 1,940,583 shares during the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC increased its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 14.3% during the second quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 14,624,238 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $453,498,000 after buying an additional 1,834,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 119.4% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,414,035 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $74,859,000 after buying an additional 1,313,976 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Enterprise Products Partners Trading Up 1.4%

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $36.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $82.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.42, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.55.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.44 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a return on equity of 19.33% and a net margin of 11.05%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. This is an increase from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Enterprise Products Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 82.71%.

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.