Traders Purchase Large Volume of Enterprise Products Partners Call Options (NYSE:EPD)

Key Points

• Traders purchased a significant volume of 27,301 call options for Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD), representing an increase of approximately 87% compared to the average call options volume.
• The company reported $0.66 earnings per share, slightly missing analysts' expectations of $0.67, alongside a 15.7% decrease in revenue from the same quarter last year.
• Enterprise Products Partners announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.545 per share, yielding 7.0% annualized, with a payout ratio of 81.04%.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 27,301 call options on the company. Thisisanincreaseof87% compared to the average volume of 14,628 call options.

Insider Transactions at Enterprise Products Partners

In related news, Director William C. Montgomery acquired 16,000 shares of Enterprise Products Partners stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were purchased 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 owned 136,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,319,826. This represents a 13.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John R. Rutherford acquired 15,000 shares of Enterprise Products Partners stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $31.35 per share, for a total transaction of $470,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 158,586 shares of the company's stock, 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. 32.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 44.9% during 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 buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Next Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 14,625 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 9,985 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. now owns 23,556 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $804,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tranquility Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 23,944 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $743,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on EPD shares. Barclays dropped their target price 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. Argus upgraded shares of Enterprise Products Partners to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "hold" rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on 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, Mizuho set a $38.00 price objective on Enterprise Products Partners and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.25.

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Performance

NYSE:EPD traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $31.58. The company had a trading volume of 963,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,740,598. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Enterprise Products Partners has a 52 week low of $27.77 and a 52 week high of $34.63. The firm has a market cap of $68.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.74, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.66. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $31.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.99.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 previous year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. The company's revenue was down 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Enterprise Products Partners will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This is a positive change from Enterprise Products Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. Enterprise Products Partners's dividend payout ratio is presently 81.04%.

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.