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Here's Why Enterprise (EPD) is an Attractive Investment Bet

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Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD - Free Report) is a leading midstream energy player with low exposure to volume and price risks. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the partnership’s 2024 earnings per unit is pegged at $2.71, indicating a year-over-year increase of almost 7.1%.

Factors Working in Favor

Enterprise Products, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has a stable business model and is not significantly exposed to the volatility in oil and gas prices. It generates stable fee-based revenues from its extensive pipeline network spread across more than 50,000 miles, transporting natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil petrochemicals and refined products.

The midstream infrastructure provider has storage assets that can hold more than 260 million barrels of NGL, petrochemicals, refined products and crude oil. These assets can store 14 billion cubic feet of natural gas. Enterprise Products has $6.9 billion of key approved projects under construction that are likely to provide incremental fee-based revenues.

The partnership’s balance sheet has lower debt exposure than the composite stocks belonging to the industry. The liquidity profile of Enterprise Products is impressive. Along with first-quarter 2024 results, the company reported consolidated liquidity of $4.5 billion, which includes unrestricted cash and available borrowing capacity.

Risks

Enterprise Products has several assets that have been providing midstream services for many years. This has raised the possibility of investing massive capital in maintaining those infrastructures. Thus, EPD could witness an increase in maintenance or repair expenses.

A slowdown in drilling activities, as upstream players mainly focus on stockholder returns rather than boosting output, is hurting production. This is affecting the demand for transportation and storage to some extent. 

Other Stocks to Consider

Other top-ranked energy companies include Sunoco LP (SUN - Free Report) , ProPetro Holding Corp. (PUMP - Free Report) and Eni SpA (E - Free Report) . All the stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.   

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

The business scenario for ProPetro Holding is bright, given the current favorable oilfield service demand. Thus, it secures handsome cashflows as it is a leading provider of pressure pumping and other complementary services. For 2024 and 2025, ProPetro Holding has witnessed upward earnings estimate revisions over the past 30 days.

Eni is leading the energy transition as well. The integrated energy player has been building a full set of decarbonized products and services for clients to achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century. Even though the energy business scenario is challenging, Eni’s efficient exploration keeps it highly competitive.

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