Energy Transfer Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:ET)

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 138,721 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 156% compared to the average daily volume of 54,091 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 293,263 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,613,000 after buying an additional 8,745 shares during the last quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,057,000. Requisite Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 550,610 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,661,000 after buying an additional 32,265 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,155 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HFG Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. HFG Advisors Inc. now owns 61,225 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 7,740 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 1.5 %

Energy Transfer stock traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $15.77. 11,273,177 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,481,466. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $15.16 and its 200-day moving average is $14.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.10. Energy Transfer has a fifty-two week low of $12.18 and a fifty-two week high of $16.04.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.46 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 12.17%. Energy Transfer’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Energy Transfer will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.99%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ET shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price target (up previously from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

Energy Transfer LP provides energy-related services. The company owns and operates natural gas transportation pipeline, and natural gas storage facilities in Texas and Oklahoma; and approximately 20,090 miles of interstate natural gas pipeline. It also sells natural gas to electric utilities, independent power plants, local distribution and other marketing companies, and industrial end-users.