Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) Trading 4.9% Higher – Time to Buy?

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) shares were up 4.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $37.31 and last traded at $37.1570. Approximately 9,285,319 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 77% from the average daily volume of 5,245,027 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EPD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $39.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (up from $35.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Enterprise Products Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.00.

Enterprise Products Partners Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $80.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.94 and its 200-day moving average is $32.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 11.05% and a return on equity of 19.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $0.55 dividend. This is a positive change from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.9%. Enterprise Products Partners’s payout ratio is currently 82.71%.

Enterprise Products Partners declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas producer to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Enterprise Products Partners

In other news, Director John R. Rutherford bought 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.09 per share, for a total transaction of $481,350.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 173,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,570,374.74. This trade represents a 9.46% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners in the third quarter valued at about $292,194,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 18,163,343 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $582,317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,940,583 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 14.3% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 119.4% during the 2nd 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 period. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 5,743.2% in the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 1,019,056 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,671,000 after buying an additional 1,001,616 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

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.