Enterprise Products Partners Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:EPD)

Key Points

• Enterprise Products Partners experienced a significant increase in options trading, with 30,678 call options bought, marking a 116% rise from the usual volume.
• Company insiders made notable stock purchases, with Director John R. Rutherford buying 15,000 shares and Director William C. Montgomery acquiring 16,000 shares, reflecting increases of 10.45% and 13.23% in their positions, respectively.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.545 per share, up from the previous $0.54, resulting in an annual yield of 6.9%.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 30,678 call options on the company. Thisrepresentsanincreaseof116% compared to the typical daily volume of 14,184 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John R. Rutherford bought 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $31.35 per share, for a total transaction of $470,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 158,586 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,671.10. This represents a 10.45% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William C. Montgomery purchased 16,000 shares of Enterprise Products Partners stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $31.55 per share, with a total value of $504,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 136,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,319,826. This represents a 13.23% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 32.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 1,014 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 1.0% during the second 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. Next Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 2.3% in the second quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 14,625 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $454,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC raised its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 3.5% in the first quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 9,985 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. increased its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 1.5% during the first quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. now owns 23,556 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $804,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Up 0.4%

EPD traded up $0.1350 during trading on Thursday, hitting $31.6450. 2,079,511 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,722,493. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $31.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Enterprise Products Partners has a 12-month low of $27.77 and a 12-month high of $34.63.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.01). Enterprise Products Partners had a net margin of 10.71% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The firm had revenue of $11.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. Enterprise Products Partners's quarterly revenue was down 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Enterprise Products Partners will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This is a boost from Enterprise Products Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Enterprise Products Partners's payout ratio is 81.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EPD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho set a $38.00 price objective on Enterprise Products Partners and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Argus raised Enterprise Products Partners to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Enterprise Products Partners from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.25.

About Enterprise Products Partners

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.

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