Energy Income Partners LLC Sells 1,158,835 Shares of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. $EPD

Key Points

• Energy Income Partners reduced its Enterprise Products Partners stake by 7.8%, selling 1,158,835 shares and retaining 13.73 million shares worth approximately $519.6 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: eight analysts rate EPD a Buy, seven rate it Hold and one rates it Sell, producing a consensus “Hold” rating and average price target of $39.93.
• Enterprise Products Partners raised its quarterly dividend to $0.56 per share, or $2.24 annually, representing a 5.9% yield. Its latest quarterly EPS of $0.68 missed estimates, while revenue of $14.39 billion exceeded expectations.

Energy Income Partners LLC cut its stake in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD - Free Report) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,731,348 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 1,158,835 shares during the period. Enterprise Products Partners makes up approximately 8.4% of Energy Income Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Energy Income Partners LLC owned about 0.64% of Enterprise Products Partners worth $519,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its holdings in Enterprise Products Partners by 1.0% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 31,733 shares in the last quarter. Royal Palms Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,830,000. Texas Yale Capital Corp. lifted its stake 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 grew its holdings in Enterprise Products Partners by 3.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 7.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Enterprise Products Partners from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Enterprise Products Partners from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. 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 note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.93.

Enterprise Products Partners Price Performance

Shares of EPD opened at $38.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $82.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.65 and a 200-day moving average of $36.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has a 52 week low of $30.01 and a 52 week high of $40.17.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.03). Enterprise Products Partners had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 11.45%.The business had revenue of $14.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Enterprise Products Partners's revenue was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. This is an increase from Enterprise Products Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Enterprise Products Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.96%.

Enterprise Products Partners 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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