Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Sees Heavy Call Option Buying

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 48,503 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 48% compared to the typical volume of 32,780 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ET shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $24.00 price target (up from $23.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Melius Research initiated coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Energy Transfer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.36.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of ET stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $19.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,236,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,580,968. The company has a market cap of $68.47 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.90. Energy Transfer has a 52 week low of $16.18 and a 52 week high of $21.84.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.21. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 4.87%.The company had revenue of $34.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Energy Transfer will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.3375. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Energy Transfer news, Director Kelcy Warren bought 647,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.26 per share, for a total transaction of $13,775,799.68. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 147,901,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,144,393,947.54. This represents a 0.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James Perry bought 12,359 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.23 per share, for a total transaction of $250,022.57. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 208,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,208,770.58. The trade was a 6.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 1,012,359 shares of company stock valued at $21,513,543. 3.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ET. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer in the first quarter worth $35,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 69.5% in the fourth quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,351 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Energy Transfer in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

Energy Transfer LP is a diversified energy infrastructure company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The partnership owns and operates a broad network of pipelines, processing facilities, storage assets and terminals that support the movement of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil and refined products across the United States.

The company’s operations include gathering and processing natural gas, transporting and storing natural gas and NGLs, fractionating NGLs into component products, and transporting crude oil and refined products.