Energy Transfer Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:ET)

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders acquired 138,721 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 156% compared to the average daily volume of 54,091 call options.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of Energy Transfer stock opened at $15.77 on Friday. Energy Transfer has a twelve month low of $12.18 and a twelve month high of $16.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $15.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.24.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its 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. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 7th were issued a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 6th. 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. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ET has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target (up previously from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ET. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 109,332.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 145,943,387 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,732,348,000 after buying an additional 145,810,023 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 81,532,518 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,125,149,000 after buying an additional 18,087,249 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 76,339,168 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $906,146,000 after buying an additional 13,220,435 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 73,666,501 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,033,541,000 after buying an additional 9,341,798 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 28,642,769 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $395,270,000 after buying an additional 3,368,427 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

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.