Enterprise Products Partners Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:EPD)

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 28,021 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 124% compared to the average volume of 12,515 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on EPD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Monday, December 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut Enterprise Products Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.77.

Enterprise Products Partners Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:EPD traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $32.61. 2,328,461 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,045,493. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a fifty day moving average of $32.10 and a 200 day moving average of $31.63. Enterprise Products Partners has a 12 month low of $27.77 and a 12 month high of $34.53.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $12.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.83 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 19.40%. Enterprise Products Partners’s revenue was down 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Enterprise Products Partners will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas producer to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This is a positive change from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Enterprise Products Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John R. Rutherford acquired 15,000 shares of Enterprise Products Partners stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.09 per share, for a total transaction of $481,350.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 173,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,570,374.74. This trade represents a 9.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 32.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quantum Financial Planning Services Inc. bought a new position in Enterprise Products Partners in the second quarter worth $310,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 151,631 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,703,000 after buying an additional 9,979 shares in the last quarter. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the 2nd quarter worth about $657,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 678,769 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $21,225,000 after acquiring an additional 61,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 203,738 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $6,318,000 after acquiring an additional 11,375 shares during the period. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Enterprise Products Partners

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) is a Houston-based master limited partnership that provides midstream energy services across North America. The company owns and operates an extensive network of pipelines, storage facilities, processing plants and export terminals that transport and handle natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined and petrochemical products. Its core activities include gathering and transportation, fractionation of NGLs, natural gas processing, crude oil and condensate pipelines, and marine and terminal services that enable domestic distribution and exports.

Enterprise serves a diverse set of customers including producers, refiners, petrochemical companies, marketers and end users.