Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) Stock Price Down 2.4% – Here’s Why

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD)’s share price traded down 2.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $32.72 and last traded at $33.2870. 7,090,677 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 62% from the average session volume of 4,363,854 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on EPD. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Friday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Monday, December 1st. Wolfe Research cut Enterprise Products Partners from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $36.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.77.

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Down 2.4%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.59.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.83 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 10.92%.The company’s revenue was down 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This is a positive change from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.6%. Enterprise Products Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.26%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John R. Rutherford purchased 15,000 shares of Enterprise Products Partners stock in a transaction on Monday, December 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.09 per share, for a total transaction of $481,350.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 173,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,570,374.74. This represents a 9.46% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 32.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the second quarter worth $31,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Enterprise Products Partners during the third quarter worth $32,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.