NuStar Energy (NYSE:NS) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of NuStar Energy (NYSE:NS) in a research note issued to investors on Monday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an underweight rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of NuStar Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a hold rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up previously from $20.00) on shares of NuStar Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a market perform rating on shares of NuStar Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $19.33.

NuStar Energy Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NS opened at $22.37 on Monday. NuStar Energy has a 12-month low of $14.70 and a 12-month high of $24.50. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.49 and a beta of 1.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $23.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.76.

NuStar Energy (NYSE:NS) last released its 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 company had revenue of $451.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.69 million. NuStar Energy had a return on equity of 107.61% and a net margin of 16.75%. NuStar Energy’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NuStar Energy will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

NuStar Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a None dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.212 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. NuStar Energy’s payout ratio is currently 225.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NuStar Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GraniteShares Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NuStar Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,480,000. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in NuStar Energy by 30.0% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 19,865,418 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $346,453,000 after purchasing an additional 4,586,344 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NuStar Energy by 71.8% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 163,759 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,856,000 after buying an additional 68,431 shares during the last quarter. Fractal Investments LLC increased its position in NuStar Energy by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 643,707 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,226,000 after acquiring an additional 160,270 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in NuStar Energy by 47.4% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,149,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $37,490,000 after acquiring an additional 691,604 shares during the last quarter. 63.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NuStar Energy

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.