Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) Shares Up 1.1% – Here’s Why

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) shot up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $38.15 and last traded at $38.1390. 2,320,611 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 4,145,560 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.72.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on EPD shares. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $40.00 price target (up from $39.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 target price on Enterprise Products Partners and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Enterprise Products Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings cut Enterprise Products Partners from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.93.

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.49.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.69 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 10.79%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 60.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. Analysts forecast that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.9%. This is an increase from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Enterprise Products Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EPD. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 32,620 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after buying an additional 5,425 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 9.3% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 58,918 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,827,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 6.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 63,702 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,975,000 after acquiring an additional 3,742 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 6.1% during the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 27,301 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578 shares during the period. Finally, Glenview Trust co grew its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 315.8% during the second quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 33,648 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after buying an additional 25,555 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.