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

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 26,765 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 78% compared to the average volume of 15,068 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EPD shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Enterprise Products Partners from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Scotiabank upped their price target on Enterprise Products Partners from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Four research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Enterprise Products Partners currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.00.

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Performance

Shares of EPD traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.73. The stock had a trading volume of 1,515,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,118,272. The firm has a market cap of $73.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.64. Enterprise Products Partners has a one year low of $27.37 and a one year high of $34.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. Enterprise Products Partners’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Enterprise Products Partners will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.535 per share. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.35%. This is a boost from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Enterprise Products Partners’s payout ratio is 79.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EPD. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in Enterprise Products Partners by 364.4% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 836 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Tidemark LLC increased its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. Tidemark LLC now owns 904 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Enterprise Products Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 55.4% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,010 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. 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.