Short Interest in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) Rises By 6.1%

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,530,000 shares, a growth of 6.1% from the March 15th total of 17,470,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 4,940,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Performance

Shares of EPD stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $28.36. The company had a trading volume of 6,358,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,965,033. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $28.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Enterprise Products Partners has a one year low of $25.19 and a one year high of $29.99. The company has a market capitalization of $61.49 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 1.02.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $14.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.43 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a return on equity of 19.65% and a net margin of 11.12%. The company's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Enterprise Products Partners will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Enterprise Products Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.75%.

Institutional Trading of Enterprise Products Partners

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Enterprise Products Partners from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Enterprise Products Partners from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $32.58.

About Enterprise Products Partners

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.