Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $130.78 Million Position in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. $EPD

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,182,229 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 331,066 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Enterprise Products Partners were worth $130,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantum Financial Planning Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at about $310,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Enterprise Products Partners by 7.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 151,631 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,703,000 after acquiring an additional 9,979 shares in the last quarter. Tred Avon Family Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Enterprise Products Partners during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,015,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its stake in Enterprise Products Partners by 10.0% in the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 678,769 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $21,225,000 after purchasing an additional 61,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Enterprise Products Partners during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $657,000. 26.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EPD shares. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price objective (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research report on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Enterprise Products Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Enterprise Products Partners in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John R. Rutherford purchased 15,000 shares of Enterprise Products Partners stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.09 per share, for a total transaction of $481,350.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 173,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,570,374.74. This trade represents a 9.46% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 32.60% of the company’s stock.

Enterprise Products Partners Stock Performance

Shares of EPD stock opened at $33.29 on Friday. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has a 52 week low of $27.77 and a 52 week high of $34.53. The company has a market capitalization of $72.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) last released 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). Enterprise Products Partners had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 19.40%. The company had revenue of $12.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Enterprise Products Partners L.P. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Enterprise Products Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.6%. This is an increase from Enterprise Products Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. Enterprise Products Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 82.26%.

Enterprise Products Partners announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program 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 programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Enterprise Products Partners

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) is a Houston-based master limited partnership that provides midstream energy services across North America. The company owns and operates an extensive network of pipelines, storage facilities, processing plants and export terminals that transport and handle natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined and petrochemical products. Its core activities include gathering and transportation, fractionation of NGLs, natural gas processing, crude oil and condensate pipelines, and marine and terminal services that enable domestic distribution and exports.

Enterprise serves a diverse set of customers including producers, refiners, petrochemical companies, marketers and end users.