Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD)

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 14,611 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 78% compared to the typical volume of 8,206 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Paragon Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the third quarter worth approximately $2,628,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 5.2% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,072,866 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $118,561,000 after buying an additional 200,625 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 37.7% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 58,510 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,703,000 after buying an additional 16,018 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the third quarter valued at about $1,943,000. Finally, Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the third quarter worth about $670,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EPD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered Enterprise Products Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Finally, US Capital Advisors raised shares of Enterprise Products Partners from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Enterprise Products Partners currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $34.00.

Enterprise Products Partners Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of EPD stock opened at $34.43 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.35. Enterprise Products Partners has a 1-year low of $25.96 and a 1-year high of $34.63. The company has a market cap of $74.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $13.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.87 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a net margin of 10.32% and a return on equity of 20.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Enterprise Products Partners will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Products Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Enterprise Products Partners’s payout ratio is 78.65%.

Enterprise Products Partners Company Profile

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. provides midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, petrochemicals, and refined products. It operates in four segments: NGL Pipelines & Services, Crude Oil Pipelines & Services, Natural Gas Pipelines & Services, and Petrochemical & Refined Products Services.