Energy Transfer Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:ET)

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 71,088 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 78% compared to the typical volume of 39,992 call options.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

ET stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.20. The stock had a trading volume of 8,185,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,683,343. Energy Transfer has a 52-week low of $16.18 and a 52-week high of $20.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.04. The company has a market cap of $69.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.55.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $27.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.78 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 9.77% and a net margin of 4.66%.Energy Transfer’s quarterly revenue was up 32.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Energy Transfer will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.50%.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Texas Yale Capital Corp. lifted its position in Energy Transfer by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 1,311,965 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $21,634,000 after buying an additional 75,700 shares during the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 100.1% in the 4th quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 161,523 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after acquiring an additional 80,786 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 179.0% in the 1st quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 162,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,129,000 after acquiring an additional 104,000 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,560,110 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $25,726,000 after acquiring an additional 129,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 1st quarter worth approximately $61,760,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ET. Jefferies Financial Group raised Energy Transfer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up from $22.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective (up from $23.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $23.50.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) is a Dallas-based midstream energy company that develops and operates infrastructure for the transportation, storage and processing of hydrocarbons. The company’s operations focus on moving and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined products through an integrated network of pipelines, terminals, storage facilities and processing plants. Energy Transfer provides core midstream services such as gathering, compression, fractionation, processing, and bulk transportation to support production and downstream supply chains.

Its asset base spans an extensive network across the United States, connecting producing regions, processing centers, petrochemical hubs and coastal and inland markets.