Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 16,136 Shares of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) by 65.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 40,965 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,136 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Enterprise Products Partners were worth $1,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 32,620 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,023,000 after buying an additional 5,425 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 22,111 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,325 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp purchased a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,706,000. Finally, Leo Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 25,796 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $809,000 after buying an additional 4,717 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Enterprise Products Partners Trading Up 1.3%

EPD stock opened at $31.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has a twelve month low of $27.37 and a twelve month high of $34.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.24.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.14 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 10.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.535 dividend. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.80%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Enterprise Products Partners’s payout ratio is presently 80.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EPD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Argus raised shares of Enterprise Products Partners to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Enterprise Products Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.67.

Enterprise Products Partners Profile

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. provides midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, petrochemicals, and refined products. It operates in four segments: NGL Pipelines & Services, Crude Oil Pipelines & Services, Natural Gas Pipelines & Services, and Petrochemical & Refined Products Services.