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 Monday. Stock investors purchased 22,359 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 58% compared to the typical daily volume of 14,126 call options.

Enterprise Products Partners Price Performance

NYSE:EPD traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $31.32. 1,407,814 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,526,576. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $31.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.34. The company has a market capitalization of $67.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Enterprise Products Partners has a one year low of $27.77 and a one year high of $34.63.

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

Enterprise Products Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Enterprise Products Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.26%.

Enterprise Products Partners announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas producer to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Enterprise Products Partners by 0.3% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 26,787,203 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $830,671,000 after purchasing an additional 69,505 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 18,652,232 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $578,406,000 after purchasing an additional 252,513 shares during the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its position in 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 during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 11,355,504 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $352,134,000 after purchasing an additional 351,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Enterprise Products Partners by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 5,515,066 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $171,022,000 after buying an additional 81,135 shares in the last quarter. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.