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

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 42,811 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 187% compared to the typical volume of 14,904 call options.

Institutional Trading of Enterprise Products Partners

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Enterprise Products Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $292,194,000. ING Groep NV acquired a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the first quarter valued at $71,052,000. Energy Income Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 14.3% during the second quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 14,624,238 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $453,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834,659 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Enterprise Products Partners by 65.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,347,247 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $148,415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717,768 shares during the period. Finally, Northside Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Enterprise Products Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,628,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Performance

Shares of Enterprise Products Partners stock opened at $32.56 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.10, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Enterprise Products Partners has a 52 week low of $27.77 and a 52 week high of $34.63.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $12.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.83 billion. Enterprise Products Partners had a net margin of 10.71% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Enterprise Products Partners will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. Enterprise Products Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.26%.

Enterprise Products Partners announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas producer to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on EPD shares. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Enterprise Products Partners from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.00.

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.