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

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.7333.

EPD has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Friday, December 19th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Enterprise Products Partners news, CEO Aj Teague acquired 2,665 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $37.55 per share, for a total transaction of $100,070.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 77,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,912,978.80. The trade was a 3.56% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 32.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Enterprise Products Partners by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,145 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $661,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,125,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Walker Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 19,678 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP increased its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 32,348 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 5,880 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Enterprise Products Partners Price Performance

EPD stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $37.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,262,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,255,273. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company’s 50 day moving average is $36.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.36. Enterprise Products Partners has a fifty-two week low of $27.77 and a fifty-two week high of $39.74. The stock has a market cap of $81.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.55.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.06. Enterprise Products Partners had a return on equity of 19.33% and a net margin of 11.05%.The business had revenue of $13.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Enterprise Products Partners will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

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

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.