NuStar Energy (NYSE:NS) Trading Up 4.8%

Shares of NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE:NS) were up 4.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $21.48 and last traded at $21.33. Approximately 738,220 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 858,652 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.36.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on NS shares. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $23.00 price target (up previously from $20.00) on shares of NuStar Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of NuStar Energy in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of NuStar Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on NuStar Energy in a research report on Saturday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised NuStar Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.43.

NuStar Energy Stock Up 5.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.14.

NuStar Energy (NYSE:NS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $451.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.69 million. NuStar Energy had a return on equity of 107.61% and a net margin of 16.75%. NuStar Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NuStar Energy L.P. will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

NuStar Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 6th. NuStar Energy’s payout ratio is 225.35%.

Institutional Trading of NuStar Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NS. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of NuStar Energy by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 48,558 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 2,827 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NuStar Energy by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 12,661 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $183,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in NuStar Energy by 35.9% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 786,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,344,000 after acquiring an additional 208,000 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV raised its holdings in NuStar Energy by 82.8% in the 1st quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 234,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,374,000 after acquiring an additional 106,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its holdings in NuStar Energy by 20.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,426,223 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $20,566,000 after acquiring an additional 239,046 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.13% of the company’s stock.

NuStar Energy Company Profile

NuStar Energy L.P. engages in the transportation, terminalling, and storage of petroleum products and renewable fuels, and transportation of anhydrous ammonia in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Pipeline, Storage, and Fuels Marketing. The Pipeline segment engages in the transportation of refined products, crude oil, and anhydrous ammonia.