New Vernon Investment Management LLC Sells 148,705 Shares of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. $EPD

Key Points

• New Vernon Investment Management LLC significantly reduced its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by selling 148,705 shares, decreasing its holdings by 90.1%, resulting in ownership of just 16,271 shares worth approximately $555,000.
• Several large investors, such as ING Groep NV and JPMorgan Chase & Co., increased their positions in Enterprise Products Partners, demonstrating continued institutional interest.
• After missing earnings expectations for the recent quarter, Enterprise Products Partners announced a slight increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.545, representing a dividend yield of 6.8%.

New Vernon Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD - Free Report) by 90.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,271 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 148,705 shares during the quarter. New Vernon Investment Management LLC's holdings in Enterprise Products Partners were worth $555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EPD. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Security National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Enterprise Products Partners in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 26.07% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Enterprise Products Partners news, Director William C. Montgomery purchased 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was acquired 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 approximately $4,319,826. This represents a 13.23% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John R. Rutherford bought 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were acquired 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. Insiders own 32.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup decreased their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Enterprise Products Partners has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.83.

Enterprise Products Partners Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE EPD traded down $0.15 on Wednesday, hitting $31.85. 1,019,901 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,648,285. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has a 52-week low of $27.77 and a 52-week high of $34.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $68.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.69. The company's 50-day moving average price is $31.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.75.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.66 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $15.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

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

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.