Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Lowers Stock Position in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. $EPD

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) by 4.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,307,298 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 59,389 shares during the period. Enterprise Products Partners makes up approximately 1.0% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Enterprise Products Partners were worth $49,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EPD. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ acquired a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EPD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price (up from $39.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $43.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Enterprise Products Partners from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Enterprise Products Partners currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.13.

Enterprise Products Partners Price Performance

EPD stock opened at $37.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.91. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has a 1 year low of $30.01 and a 1 year high of $40.17. The firm has a market cap of $81.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.41.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $14.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.62 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. This is an increase from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Enterprise Products Partners’s payout ratio is 81.48%.

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.