Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) Trading Up 1.3% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• EPD shares rose 1.3% to $38.96 in mid-day trading, with volume about 25% above the average session level.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but leans neutral: MarketBeat reports an average “Hold” rating and a $39.87 average price target, close to the current share price.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, including $0.84 EPS versus $0.75 expected and 60.8% year-over-year revenue growth, while raising its quarterly dividend to $0.56 per share for a 5.7% annualized yield.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) shares were up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $39.10 and last traded at $38.96. Approximately 4,889,597 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 25% from the average session volume of 3,904,107 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on EPD. Weiss Ratings raised Enterprise Products Partners from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. TD Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $38.00 price target (down from $39.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.87.

Enterprise Products Partners Trading Up 1.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.50.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.09. Enterprise Products Partners had a return on equity of 20.67% and a net margin of 10.79%.The company had revenue of $18.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 60.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 3,106.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 32,060,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $102,784,000 after acquiring an additional 31,060,000 shares in the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $508,461,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $416,553,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Enterprise Products Partners during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $255,325,000. Finally, Berkley W R Corp bought a new position in Enterprise Products Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $250,887,000. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Enterprise Products Partners

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. NYSE: EPD is a publicly traded midstream energy partnership that provides transportation, storage, processing and export services for crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), petrochemicals and refined products. The company operates an integrated network of pipelines, processing plants, fractionation facilities, storage assets and marine terminals.

Enterprise's NGL operations include natural gas processing, NGL fractionation and the production and distribution of ethane, propane, butanes and natural gasoline.

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