Morningstar Investment Management LLC Lowers Stake in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD)

Key Points

• Morningstar Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. by 50.3%, selling 44,479 shares, bringing its total to 44,008 shares worth approximately $1.5 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their stakes in Enterprise Products Partners, with Alps Advisors Inc. raising its holdings by 5.0% in the first quarter.
• Enterprise Products Partners recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.545, marking an increase from its previous dividend, with an annualized yield of approximately 6.99%.

Morningstar Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD - Free Report) by 50.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,008 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 44,479 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC's holdings in Enterprise Products Partners were worth $1,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Security National Bank bought a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Enterprise Products Partners by 55.4% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,010 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. 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 during the period. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Enterprise Products Partners Price Performance

Shares of Enterprise Products Partners stock traded down $0.12 on Friday, hitting $30.88. 3,085,813 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,765,554. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $31.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $66.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.64. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has a 12-month low of $27.37 and a 12-month high of $34.63.

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). Enterprise Products Partners had a net margin of 10.71% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The business had revenue of $11.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Enterprise Products Partners's revenue for the quarter was down 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This is a boost from Enterprise Products Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. Enterprise Products Partners's payout ratio is 81.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on EPD shares. Argus raised shares of Enterprise Products Partners to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays reduced their price target 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. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.25.

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.