Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Enterprise Products Partners has a consensus analyst rating of “Hold” from 17 covering firms, with an average 12-month price target of $39.60. The breakdown includes 9 buy ratings, 7 hold ratings, and 1 sell rating.
• The company recently reported mixed quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.68 versus estimates of $0.71, while revenue came in at $14.39 billion, above expectations. Analysts still expect Enterprise Products Partners to earn 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• Enterprise Products Partners declared a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 5.6%. The company also saw insider buying from CEO Aj Teague, who increased his stake by 3.56% in a March purchase.

Shares of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.60.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Enterprise Products Partners from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays raised their price target on Enterprise Products Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Enterprise Products Partners from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $44.00 price target (up from $39.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Friday, May 1st.

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE EPD opened at $39.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $84.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.52. Enterprise Products Partners has a one year low of $30.01 and a one year high of $39.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $37.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.72.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $14.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.62 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The firm's revenue was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Enterprise Products Partners will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Products Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Enterprise Products Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Aj Teague acquired 2,665 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $37.55 per share, with a total value of $100,070.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 77,576 shares in the company, valued at $2,912,978.80. This trade represents a 3.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 32.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 42,639,131 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,367,011,000 after purchasing an additional 260,305 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 31,060,000 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,116,333 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $612,870,000 after acquiring an additional 883,983 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 18,163,343 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $582,317,000 after acquiring an additional 1,940,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC raised its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 0.6% during the third quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 14,705,122 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $459,829,000 after acquiring an additional 80,884 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company's stock.

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.

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