HighTower Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. $EPD

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors reduced its Enterprise Products Partners stake by 1.1%, selling 44,235 shares and retaining 3.82 million shares valued at approximately $140.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 26.07% of EPD.
• Enterprise Products Partners reported quarterly earnings of $0.84 per share, beating estimates of $0.75, while revenue rose 60.8% year over year to $18.27 billion.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.56 per share, or $2.24 annually, representing a 5.7% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $40.00.

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,822,053 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 44,235 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.18% of Enterprise Products Partners worth $140,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advus Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 2.2% during the second quarter. Advus Financial Partners LLC now owns 26,248 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $965,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 0.9% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,958,036 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $71,977,000 after buying an additional 16,555 shares during the period. Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the second quarter valued at about $353,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 122.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 35,349 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,299,000 after buying an additional 19,490 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 27,771 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 4,432 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Enterprise Products Partners Price Performance

EPD opened at $38.97 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $84.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $38.14 and a 200-day moving average of $37.78. 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.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $18.27 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 60.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. This is a boost from Enterprise Products Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Enterprise Products Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $41.00 price target (up from $40.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Enterprise Products Partners from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and issued a $38.00 target price (down from $39.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given 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 an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $40.00.

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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