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

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 890,421 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 826% compared to the typical volume of 96,205 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ET. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Energy Transfer by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,379,297 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $535,738,000 after acquiring an additional 10,195,768 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 15,738,594 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $308,319,000 after purchasing an additional 388,073 shares in the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.8% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 13,139,924 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $210,896,000 after purchasing an additional 352,625 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 36.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,563,478 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $185,594,000 after buying an additional 3,106,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Energy Transfer by 45.9% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 9,581,762 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $153,787,000 after buying an additional 3,013,973 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

ET traded down $0.42 on Thursday, hitting $20.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,762,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,605,279. Energy Transfer has a 12 month low of $13.79 and a 12 month high of $21.45. The firm has a market cap of $69.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.59.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 5.90%. The firm had revenue of $20.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Energy Transfer will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 94.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.82.

About Energy Transfer

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.