Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) Short Interest Up 17.1% in January

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 26,740,000 shares, an increase of 17.1% from the January 15th total of 22,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,480,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.0 days. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Enterprise Products Partners Price Performance

EPD stock traded up $0.31 during trading on Monday, hitting $33.52. 4,566,851 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,115,015. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.09. Enterprise Products Partners has a 52 week low of $26.64 and a 52 week high of $34.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.79.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. Enterprise Products Partners had a return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 10.49%. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. Enterprise Products Partners’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Enterprise Products Partners will post 2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.535 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.39%. Enterprise Products Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EPD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Enterprise Products Partners from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Enterprise Products Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, US Capital Advisors raised Enterprise Products Partners from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.70.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 3,307 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,364 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC now owns 73,470 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,304,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Enterprise Products Partners by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,501 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Sandbox Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Sandbox Financial Partners LLC now owns 10,103 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Enterprise Products Partners

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.