Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) Shares Down 1.4% – Time to Sell?

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) shares dropped 1.4% on Monday . The company traded as low as $36.94 and last traded at $37.0380. Approximately 6,387,294 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 30% from the average daily volume of 4,924,949 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. 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 report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays raised their target price on Enterprise Products Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wolfe Research lowered Enterprise Products Partners from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Enterprise Products Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Enterprise Products Partners currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.57.

Enterprise Products Partners Trading Up 1.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $34.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.65.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $13.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. Enterprise Products Partners’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is a boost 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 5.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Enterprise Products Partners’s payout ratio is currently 82.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Enterprise Products Partners

In other news, Director John R. Rutherford bought 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.09 per share, with a total value of $481,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 173,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,570,374.74. The trade was a 9.46% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 32.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 42,639,131 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,367,011,000 after purchasing an additional 260,305 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 3,106.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 32,060,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $102,784,000 after buying an additional 31,060,000 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 0.3% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 26,787,203 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $830,671,000 after buying an additional 69,505 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,116,333 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $612,870,000 after acquiring an additional 883,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 18,652,232 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $578,406,000 after acquiring an additional 252,513 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.