Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) Stock Price Up 1.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) traded up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $35.00 to $39.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Enterprise Products Partners traded as high as $37.33 and last traded at $37.1950. 3,008,326 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 4,863,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.72.

EPD has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial downgraded 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $39.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.57.

Insider Activity at Enterprise Products Partners

In other news, Director John R. Rutherford bought 15,000 shares of Enterprise Products Partners stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.09 per share, with a total value of $481,350.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 173,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,570,374.74. This trade represents a 9.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 32.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisortrust Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the fourth quarter worth approximately $261,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 3,106.0% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 31,060,000 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Family Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners during the 4th quarter worth $315,000. Mengis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Enterprise Products Partners during the 4th quarter worth $208,000. Finally, Bayban purchased a new position in Enterprise Products Partners during the 4th quarter worth $420,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Enterprise Products Partners Trading Up 1.3%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $80.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.59.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.06. Enterprise Products Partners had a net margin of 11.05% and a return on equity of 19.33%. The business had revenue of $13.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. 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. This is a positive change from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Enterprise Products Partners’s payout ratio is 82.71%.

Enterprise Products Partners Company Profile

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.