Investors Purchase High Volume of Enterprise Products Partners Call Options (NYSE:EPD)

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 24,924 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 105% compared to the average daily volume of 12,132 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enterprise Products Partners

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 364.4% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 836 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 1,000.0% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 1,100 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 19,800.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,194 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,188 shares during the period. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 558.3% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 1,264 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. US Capital Advisors raised shares of Enterprise Products Partners from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America began coverage on Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research cut Enterprise Products Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated 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 target for the company. Four equities 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.60.

Enterprise Products Partners Price Performance

Enterprise Products Partners stock opened at $33.98 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.49. 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 market cap of $73.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.09. Enterprise Products Partners has a 12-month low of $26.12 and a 12-month high of $34.63.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $13.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.87 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a net margin of 10.32% and a return on equity of 20.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Enterprise Products Partners will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.535 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.30%. Enterprise Products Partners’s payout ratio is 80.15%.

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.