Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Equitrans Midstream (NYSE:ETRN)

Equitrans Midstream Co. (NYSE:ETRN) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 41,173 call options on the company. This is an increase of 330% compared to the typical volume of 9,579 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Equitrans Midstream from $6.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Equitrans Midstream from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective on shares of Equitrans Midstream in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Equitrans Midstream from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equitrans Midstream presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.86.

Equitrans Midstream Stock Performance

ETRN traded up $0.50 on Wednesday, hitting $13.39. 5,320,091 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,327,810. The firm has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of 14.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.97. Equitrans Midstream has a twelve month low of $4.65 and a twelve month high of $13.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $11.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.83.

Equitrans Midstream (NYSE:ETRN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.16. Equitrans Midstream had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The company had revenue of $360.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $348.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. Equitrans Midstream’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equitrans Midstream will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitrans Midstream Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. Equitrans Midstream’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.42%.

Institutional Trading of Equitrans Midstream

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Equitrans Midstream in the 1st quarter worth approximately $229,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Equitrans Midstream by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 124,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in Equitrans Midstream by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 106,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,329,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Equitrans Midstream by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471 shares during the period. Finally, True North Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Equitrans Midstream by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 82,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the period. 87.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Equitrans Midstream

Equitrans Midstream Corporation owns, operates, acquires, and develops midstream assets in the Appalachian Basin. The company operates through Gathering, Transmission, and Water segments. It operates dry gas gathering systems of high-pressure gathering lines and FERC-regulated interstate pipelines and storage systems.