Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $35.6364.

EPD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $36.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Scotiabank cut their price target on Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th.

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Performance

NYSE EPD traded down $0.04 on Wednesday, hitting $32.09. 162,396 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,419,225. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $31.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.56. Enterprise Products Partners has a 52-week low of $27.77 and a 52-week high of $34.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $69.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.59.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Enterprise Products Partners will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Enterprise Products Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.26%.

Enterprise Products Partners announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas producer to buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EPD. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 19.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 5,425 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the first quarter worth about $22,284,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 1.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 32,403 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,106,000 after buying an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Enterprise Products Partners during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Enterprise Products Partners by 99.5% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 573,525 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $19,580,000 after buying an additional 285,980 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.