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

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

Equitrans Midstream Stock Up 4.2 %

ETRN stock opened at $13.43 on Thursday. Equitrans Midstream has a twelve month low of $4.65 and a twelve month high of $13.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.83. The company has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.97. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.43.

Equitrans Midstream (NYSE:ETRN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $360.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $348.04 million. Equitrans Midstream had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 30.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equitrans Midstream will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitrans Midstream Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. Equitrans Midstream’s payout ratio is 67.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitrans Midstream

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitrans Midstream during the first quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased 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 valued at $1,558,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System increased 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 valued at $1,329,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Equitrans Midstream by 25.7% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 1,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True North Advisors LLC grew its position in Equitrans Midstream by 2.9% in the first quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 82,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. 87.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Equitrans Midstream Company Profile

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.