Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) Trading 1% Higher – Still a Buy?

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) shares were up 1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $33.52 and last traded at $33.5050. Approximately 4,842,173 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 19% from the average daily volume of 4,071,961 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.17.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial downgraded Enterprise Products Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Enterprise Products Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.77.

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Up 1.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $72.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s 50-day moving average is $32.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.07). Enterprise Products Partners had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 10.92%.The firm had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is an increase from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. Enterprise Products Partners’s payout ratio is 83.02%.

Enterprise Products Partners declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas producer to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Enterprise Products Partners news, Director John R. Rutherford bought 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.09 per share, with a total value of $481,350.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 173,586 shares in the company, valued at $5,570,374.74. This trade represents a 9.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 32.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Enterprise Products Partners during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners during the third quarter worth about $32,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Enterprise Products Partners Company Profile

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.