Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) Stock Price Down 1.3% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Enterprise Products Partners shares fell 1.3% on Thursday, trading as low as $37.25 before closing near $37.31, on lighter-than-normal volume.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans cautious: the stock has a consensus Hold rating with a $40 average price target, even though several firms recently raised targets and a few upgraded the stock to Buy.
• The company boosted its quarterly dividend to $0.56 per share, or $2.24 annually, for a dividend yield of about 6.0%, even as its latest earnings missed EPS estimates by $0.03.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) shares traded down 1.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $37.25 and last traded at $37.31. 2,277,607 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 4,268,282 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on EPD shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Enterprise Products Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 13th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $44.00 target price (up from $39.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up from $39.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $38.00 price objective (up from $34.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Enterprise Products Partners Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $80.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business's 50 day moving average is $37.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.25.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). Enterprise Products Partners had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The firm had revenue of $14.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The business's revenue was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.0%. This is a positive change from Enterprise Products Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Enterprise Products Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EPD. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 3,112,119 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $99,775,000 after purchasing an additional 31,733 shares during the period. Royal Palms Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,830,000. Texas Yale Capital Corp. increased its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 1,905,939 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $61,104,000 after buying an additional 88,475 shares in the last quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC increased its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 1,329,085 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $42,610,000 after buying an additional 39,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,510,036 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $144,592,000 after buying an additional 327,807 shares during the period. 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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