Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET)

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors bought 96,837 call options on the company. This is an increase of 99% compared to the average volume of 48,747 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ET. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Energy Transfer during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Navalign LLC acquired a new position in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of ET stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $19.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,848,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,764,654. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Energy Transfer has a fifty-two week low of $14.60 and a fifty-two week high of $19.30. The company has a market capitalization of $65.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.33.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $25.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.56 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 10.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 29.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Energy Transfer will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were given a $0.335 dividend. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is 110.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ET has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, January 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.60.

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.