First Manhattan CO. LLC. Purchases New Shares in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. $EPD

Key Points

• First Manhattan CO. LLC acquired 405,148 shares of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. valued at approximately $13.8 million in the first quarter, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Recent insider trading revealed that directors John R. Rutherford and William C. Montgomery increased their stakes in the company, signaling confidence in its future prospects.
• Enterprise Products Partners reported a quarterly profit of $0.66 per share but missed estimates, with revenue down 15.7% year-over-year, prompting analysts to adjust price targets.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. acquired a new position in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 405,148 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $13,832,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harber Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 36.2% in the first quarter. Harber Asset Management LLC now owns 363,019 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $12,393,000 after acquiring an additional 96,467 shares during the period. OLD Mission Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the first quarter worth $378,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 80.9% in the first quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 4,920 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC grew its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 7.0% during the first quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 340,997 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $11,642,000 after buying an additional 22,317 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EPD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "hold" rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Mizuho set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $35.83.

Enterprise Products Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EPD traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,019,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,512,463. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $31.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $68.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.69. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has a 12-month low of $27.77 and a 12-month high of $34.63.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 10.71%.The firm had revenue of $11.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. Enterprise Products Partners's revenue for the quarter was down 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.545 dividend. This is an increase 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%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Enterprise Products Partners's payout ratio is presently 81.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William C. Montgomery purchased 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $31.55 per share, for a total transaction of $504,800.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John R. Rutherford acquired 15,000 shares of Enterprise Products Partners stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $31.35 per share, with a total value of $470,250.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 32.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Enterprise Products Partners 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.