Enterprise Products Partners Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:EPD)

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 24,536 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 42% compared to the typical volume of 17,297 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John R. Rutherford purchased 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.09 per share, with a total value of $481,350.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 173,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,570,374.74. The trade was a 9.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 32.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE EPD traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $36.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,739,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,192,965. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.60. Enterprise Products Partners has a 1 year low of $27.77 and a 1 year high of $37.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.06.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.06. Enterprise Products Partners had a return on equity of 19.43% and a net margin of 11.05%.The business had revenue of $13.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This is an increase from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.0%. Enterprise Products Partners’s payout ratio is presently 82.71%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EPD has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Enterprise Products Partners has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.00.

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.