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Enterprise (EPD) Rewards Unitholders With Distribution Hike

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Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD - Free Report) has announced approvals from the board of directors of its general partners to increase quarterly distributions.

The hiked quarterly distribution to be paid to its common unitholders is 51.5 cents per unit, which is $2.06 per unit on an annualized basis. Enterprise Products said that the fourth-quarter distribution, representing an increase of 3% from the prior quarter distribution, will be paid on Feb 14 to common unitholders of record as of the close of business on Jan 31.

Enterprise Products is also repurchasing units to return capital to unit holders. Through the December quarter of 2023, in the open market, the partnership repurchased $96 million of its common units. Last year, EPD bought back a total of $187 million of common units. This brings the midstream energy company's utilization of its $2 billion authorized repurchase program to 46% with the inclusion of these buybacks.

EPD, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), has a stable business model and is not significantly exposed to the volatility in oil and gas prices. Enterprise Products generates stable fee-based revenues from its extensive pipeline network that spreads across more than 50,000 miles, transporting natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil petrochemicals and refined products.

Better-ranked players in the energy space include Sunoco LP (SUN - Free Report) , The Williams Companies, Inc. (WMB - Free Report) and Western Midstream Partners, LP (WES - Free Report) . While Sunoco LP sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), The Williams Companies and Western Midstream Partners carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.   

Sunoco LP, the leading independent fuel distributor in the United States, has a stable business model and has relatively lower exposure to commodity price volatility. This is because the partnership distributes fuel to branded distributors under long-term contracts. 

The Williams Companies is well-poised to capitalize on the mounting demand for clean energy since it engages in transporting, storing, gathering and processing natural gas and natural gas liquids.

With its pipeline networks spread across more than 30,000 miles, the company connects premium basins in the United States to the key market. WMB’s assets can meet 30% of the nation’s consumption of natural gas, which is utilized for heating purposes and clean-energy generation. Thus, the company will be generating stable fee-based revenues.

Western Midstream Partners has a stable business model, banking on its midstream assets. With new productions coming online and activities in the Delaware Basin intensifying, there is a notable uptick in total throughput for natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids. Moreover, the partnership has impressive free cash flow conversions and has witnessed upward earnings estimate revisions for 2024 over the past 30 days.

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