Traders Purchase Large Volume of Energy Transfer Call Options (NYSE:ET)

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 65,089 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 64% compared to the average volume of 39,670 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ET has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $20.00.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

NYSE ET opened at $16.89 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $57.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $16.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.02. Energy Transfer has a twelve month low of $13.01 and a twelve month high of $16.91.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $20.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.01 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 12.74%. Energy Transfer’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Energy Transfer will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid 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 7.64%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 107.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 12.7% during the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 36,668,846 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $594,769,000 after buying an additional 4,141,715 shares during the period. Natixis boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 18,020,559 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $283,463,000 after purchasing an additional 2,999,300 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Energy Transfer by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,107,470 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $261,263,000 after purchasing an additional 171,720 shares in the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its position in Energy Transfer by 3.1% in the third quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 15,350,521 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $246,376,000 after purchasing an additional 466,565 shares during the period. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 7.9% during the third quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 7,293,510 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $117,061,000 after purchasing an additional 536,047 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

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.