Enterprise Products Partners L.P. $EPD Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Key Points

• Van ECK Associates cut its Enterprise Products Partners stake by 20.3% in the second quarter, selling 45,581 shares and retaining 179,039 shares valued at approximately $6.6 million.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $40.00 price target, while individual ratings range from “Strong Buy” to “Sell.”
• Enterprise Products Partners beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $0.84 in EPS and $18.27 billion in revenue; it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.56, implying a 5.7% annualized yield.

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its stake in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD - Free Report) by 20.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 179,039 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 45,581 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Enterprise Products Partners were worth $6,581,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 3,106.0% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 32,060,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $102,784,000 after purchasing an additional 31,060,000 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC acquired a new position in Enterprise Products Partners during the second quarter worth approximately $508,461,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Enterprise Products Partners during the second quarter worth approximately $416,553,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners in the second quarter valued at approximately $255,325,000. Finally, Berkley W R Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the second quarter valued at approximately $250,887,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EPD has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and set a $38.00 target price (down from $39.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 price target (up from $39.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $41.00 target price (up from $40.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Performance

Shares of EPD opened at $39.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.93. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has a 1 year low of $30.01 and a 1 year high of $40.17. The company's fifty day moving average is $38.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.76.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.69 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 20.67%. The business's revenue was up 60.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were given a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. 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 yield of 5.7%. Enterprise Products Partners's payout ratio is 77.78%.

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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