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

Key Points

• Enterprise Products Partners experienced a significant uptick in options trading, with a 176% increase in call options purchased, totaling 37,472 on a single day.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $0.66, slightly missing analyst expectations, and had a revenue of $11.36 billion, down 15.7% from the previous year.
• Directors of Enterprise Products Partners have recently engaged in insider buying, with one director acquiring 16,000 shares, marking a significant increase in their ownership stake.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 37,472 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 176% compared to the average daily volume of 13,580 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho set a $38.00 target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $35.75.

Enterprise Products Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EPD traded down $0.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $31.65. The company had a trading volume of 5,197,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,291,202. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.60. Enterprise Products Partners has a fifty-two week low of $27.77 and a fifty-two week high of $34.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $11.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Enterprise Products Partners will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. 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%. Enterprise Products Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Enterprise Products Partners news, Director William C. Montgomery purchased 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $31.55 per share, for a total transaction of $504,800.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 136,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,319,826. The trade was a 13.23% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John R. Rutherford purchased 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $31.35 per share, for a total transaction of $470,250.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 158,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,671.10. The trade was a 10.45% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 32.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Verus Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Enterprise Products Partners by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 32,311 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Next Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 14,625 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 9,985 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. now owns 23,556 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $804,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tranquility Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 23,944 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $743,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Enterprise Products Partners Company Profile

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.