Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) Trading Down 1.4% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Shares fell about 1.4% to roughly $37 on Monday with volume up ~30%, and the stock carries a consensus Wall Street rating of Hold with an average target of $36.29.
• Enterprise beat the quarter (EPS $0.75 vs. $0.69 expected; revenue $13.79B vs. $12.44B expected) though revenue was down 2.9% year‑over‑year and analysts project about $2.90 in EPS for the fiscal year.
• The partnership pays a raised quarterly dividend of $0.55 (annualized $2.20) for a ~5.9% yield but a high payout ratio (~82.7%), and Director John R. Rutherford recently bought 15,000 shares, bringing insider ownership to 32.6%.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) traded down 1.4% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $36.94 and last traded at $37.0380. 6,387,294 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 30% from the average session volume of 4,924,949 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.57.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EPD. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $39.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Enterprise Products Partners from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $34.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.29.

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Down 1.4%

The company's 50 day moving average is $34.29 and its 200 day moving average is $32.58. The company has a market cap of $80.07 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.44 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a net margin of 11.05% and a return on equity of 19.33%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This is a positive change from Enterprise Products Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. Enterprise Products Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.71%.

Insider Transactions at Enterprise Products Partners

In other news, Director John R. Rutherford acquired 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.09 per share, with a total value of $481,350.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 173,586 shares in the company, valued at $5,570,374.74. This trade represents a 9.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 32.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EPD. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,145 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $661,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,266 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,125,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 19,678 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $631,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 32,311 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP grew its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 32,348 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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