StockNews.com Begins Coverage on NuStar Energy (NYSE:NS)

Analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of NuStar Energy (NYSE:NS) in a research note issued on Saturday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

NS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $23.00 price target (up previously from $20.00) on shares of NuStar Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of NuStar Energy in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of NuStar Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of NuStar Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NuStar Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.43.

NuStar Energy Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NS opened at $21.25 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.93 and a beta of 1.70. NuStar Energy has a 52 week low of $14.70 and a 52 week high of $24.50.

NuStar Energy (NYSE:NS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $451.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.69 million. NuStar Energy had a return on equity of 107.61% and a net margin of 16.75%. NuStar Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that NuStar Energy will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NuStar Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NS. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in NuStar Energy by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 339,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,349,000 after purchasing an additional 14,900 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in NuStar Energy by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,535,454 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $66,042,000 after acquiring an additional 351,608 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in NuStar Energy in the fourth quarter worth $675,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in NuStar Energy by 298.8% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 526,838 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $9,841,000 after purchasing an additional 394,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Multi Strategy Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of NuStar Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $280,000. 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.