Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) Shares Up 1% – Still a Buy?

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) was up 1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $33.65 and last traded at $33.56. Approximately 1,462,111 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 4,779,658 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on EPD shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Enterprise Products Partners from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research lowered Enterprise Products Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank started coverage on Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, US Capital Advisors raised Enterprise Products Partners from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.70.

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.76. The company has a market capitalization of $72.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.09.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. Enterprise Products Partners had a return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 10.49%. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. Enterprise Products Partners’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.535 dividend. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.39%. This is a positive change from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Enterprise Products Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 79.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EPD. Pennington Partners & CO. LLC bought a new position in Enterprise Products Partners during the 4th quarter valued at $551,000. Hutner Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. now owns 102,654 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,219,000 after purchasing an additional 12,545 shares in the last quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new position in Enterprise Products Partners during the 4th quarter valued at $131,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 411,024 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $12,890,000 after purchasing an additional 122,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Enterprise Products Partners during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Enterprise Products Partners

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.