Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Holdings in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,197,937 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 29,784 shares during the quarter. Enterprise Products Partners makes up about 0.8% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned approximately 0.06% of Enterprise Products Partners worth $37,567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 3,307 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,364 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 0.4% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,501 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sandbox Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Sandbox Financial Partners LLC now owns 10,103 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on EPD. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Enterprise Products Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Enterprise Products Partners from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.90.

Enterprise Products Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EPD opened at $33.80 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $33.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.08. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has a one year low of $27.37 and a one year high of $34.63. 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 announced 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 net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 20.48%. 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 prior year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.9 earnings per share 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 $0.535 dividend. This is a boost from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.33%. Enterprise Products Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 79.55%.

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.