Enterprise Products Partners L.P. $EPD Shares Sold by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners cut its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 45,733 shares and leaving it with 1.29 million shares valued at about $41.3 million.
• Enterprise Products Partners reported mixed quarterly results: EPS of $0.68 missed estimates, but revenue of $14.39 billion topped expectations. Analysts now expect full-year EPS of 2.98.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.55, equal to an annualized yield of 5.9%, while analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $39.67.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD - Free Report) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,288,552 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 45,733 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned 0.06% of Enterprise Products Partners worth $41,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arax Advisory Partners grew its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 29,955 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. ArchPoint Investors grew its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. ArchPoint Investors now owns 167,438 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $5,368,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,928,068 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $93,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069,304 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 731,653 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $23,457,000 after acquiring an additional 10,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meixler Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. now owns 142,925 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $4,582,000 after purchasing an additional 18,150 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Enterprise Products Partners Price Performance

EPD opened at $37.29 on Monday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $38.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.91. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has a 1 year low of $30.01 and a 1 year high of $40.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.60 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.49.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $14.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. Enterprise Products Partners's revenue was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.9%. Enterprise Products Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Aj Teague bought 2,665 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $37.55 per share, with a total value of $100,070.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 77,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,912,978.80. The trade was a 3.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 32.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price target (up from $39.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $43.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.67.

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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