Evergreen Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. $EPD

Key Points

• Evergreen Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. by 5.9%, selling 60,019 shares to hold 949,326 shares valued at approximately $32.41 million.
• Brokerage firms have mixed views on the stock, with Mizuho setting a target price of $38.00 and multiple downgrades lowering targets to as low as $33.00.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.545, marking a yield of 6.8% with a payout ratio of 81.04%.

Evergreen Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD - Free Report) by 5.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 949,326 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 60,019 shares during the quarter. Enterprise Products Partners accounts for about 1.1% of Evergreen Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Evergreen Capital Management LLC's holdings in Enterprise Products Partners were worth $32,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Security National Bank purchased a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in Enterprise Products Partners by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 1,014 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EPD. Mizuho set a $38.00 target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Argus raised shares of Enterprise Products Partners to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $35.83.

Insider Activity at Enterprise Products Partners

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

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Up 1.0%

EPD stock opened at $31.93 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.87, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.96. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has a one year low of $27.77 and a one year high of $34.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.78.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $11.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.24 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 10.71%.The firm's revenue was down 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Enterprise Products Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Enterprise Products Partners's dividend payout ratio is presently 81.04%.

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.

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