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

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 65,089 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 64% compared to the typical daily volume of 39,670 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on ET shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.00.

Insider Activity at Energy Transfer

In related news, CEO Thomas E. Long bought 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.68 per share, for a total transaction of $313,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,308,859 shares in the company, valued at $67,562,909.12. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Thomas E. Long purchased 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.68 per share, for a total transaction of $313,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,308,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,562,909.12. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelcy L. Warren bought 3,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $47,040,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 123,385,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,686,992. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 3,040,000 shares of company stock valued at $47,667,200. 3.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer in the 1st quarter worth approximately $384,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 8.6% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,531 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 2,804 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 4.3% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 499,752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,861,000 after buying an additional 20,786 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,159,000. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 32,080 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE ET traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $16.90. The stock had a trading volume of 17,477,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,023,320. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $16.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.01. The firm has a market cap of $57.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.66. Energy Transfer has a 52-week low of $13.01 and a 52-week high of $16.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $20.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.01 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.74% and a net margin of 5.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Energy Transfer will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.3225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.63%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 107.56%.

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.