Investors Buy Large Volume of Energy Transfer Call Options (NYSE:ET)

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 65,089 call options on the company. This represents 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 firms have weighed in on ET. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America initiated 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 on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.00.

Insider Transactions at Energy Transfer

In other Energy Transfer news, EVP Gregory G. Mcilwain acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $313,600.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 591,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,270,188.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Energy Transfer news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 3,000,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.68 per share, for a total transaction of $47,040,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 123,385,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,934,686,992. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gregory G. Mcilwain acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $313,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 591,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,270,188.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 3,040,000 shares of company stock worth $47,667,200. Corporate insiders own 3.28% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 65.0% in the third quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 2,138.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,746 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,668 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 43.6% in the third quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,472 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 2.3 %

ET stock traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.89. The company had a trading volume of 25,397,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,060,324. Energy Transfer has a 1 year low of $13.01 and a 1 year 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. The company has a market capitalization of $57.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.19, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a 50 day moving average of $16.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.02.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $20.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.01 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 12.74%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Energy Transfer will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.3225 per share. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio is currently 107.56%.

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.