Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. $EPD

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. bought a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 41,027 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,315,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EPD. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the third quarter worth $31,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the third quarter worth $32,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX bought a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners during the third quarter valued at $33,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Enterprise Products Partners Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of EPD opened at $38.13 on Tuesday. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has a fifty-two week low of $27.77 and a fifty-two week high of $38.22. The firm has a market cap of $82.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.44 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a net margin of 11.05% and a return on equity of 19.33%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $0.55 dividend. This is an increase from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Enterprise Products Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.71%.

Insider Transactions at Enterprise Products Partners

In related news, Director John R. Rutherford purchased 15,000 shares of Enterprise Products Partners stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.09 per share, for a total transaction of $481,350.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 173,586 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Aj Teague purchased 2,665 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $37.55 per share, for a total transaction of $100,070.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 77,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,912,978.80. This trade represents a 3.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 32.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EPD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Enterprise Products Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Enterprise Products Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.14.

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.