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

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 24,924 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 105% compared to the typical daily volume of 12,132 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EPD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Enterprise Products Partners from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. US Capital Advisors upgraded Enterprise Products Partners from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Enterprise Products Partners from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Enterprise Products Partners has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.60.

Enterprise Products Partners Price Performance

Shares of EPD traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $33.88. The stock had a trading volume of 2,112,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,161,754. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $32.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.49. The company has a market capitalization of $73.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.09. Enterprise Products Partners has a 52 week low of $26.12 and a 52 week high of $34.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $13.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.87 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a return on equity of 20.31% and a net margin of 10.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Enterprise Products Partners will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.535 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.32%. Enterprise Products Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.15%.

Institutional Trading of Enterprise Products Partners

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EPD. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 25,371 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 46.4% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 216,741 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,281,000 after buying an additional 68,691 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Enterprise Products Partners by 11.8% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 901,468 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $26,125,000 after purchasing an additional 95,189 shares during the last quarter. Creekside Partners bought a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the second quarter valued at approximately $463,000. Finally, Clear Rock Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 8.9% in the second quarter. Clear Rock Advisors LLC now owns 71,273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,065,000 after buying an additional 5,830 shares during the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Enterprise Products Partners Company Profile

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.