Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) Director John Rutherford Purchases 15,000 Shares

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) Director John Rutherford purchased 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $32.09 per share, for a total transaction of $481,350.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 173,586 shares in the company, valued at $5,570,374.74. This represents a 9.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of EPD traded up $0.05 on Monday, hitting $31.92. 2,507,908 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,408,743. The company has a market capitalization of $69.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.58. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has a one year low of $27.77 and a one year high of $34.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.56.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.83 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 19.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Products Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Enterprise Products Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 82.26%.

Enterprise Products Partners declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas producer to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EPD. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 target price (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Monday, December 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.64.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new position in Enterprise Products Partners during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Enterprise Products Partners in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

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.