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

Key Points

• Unusually large options activity: Traders bought 922,869 call options on Energy Transfer, a 2,183% jump versus the average daily call volume of 40,422.
• Major insider purchase: Director Kelcy L. Warren acquired 1,350,000 shares at an average $17.36 (≈$23.44M), bringing his stake to 69,178,477 shares.
• Dividend hike with high yield: The quarterly dividend was raised to $0.3325 (annualized $1.33) for a 7.9% yield, though the payout ratio is about 103% and the company recently missed quarterly EPS and revenue estimates.

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 922,869 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 2,183% compared to the average daily volume of 40,422 call options.

Insider Activity at Energy Transfer

In related news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 1,350,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $17.36 per share, for a total transaction of $23,436,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 69,178,477 shares in the company, valued at $1,200,938,360.72. This trade represents a 1.99% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.28% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ET. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in Energy Transfer in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. CNB Bank grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 111.1% in the second quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,900 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Energy Transfer in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Energy Transfer in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ET shares. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Scotiabank started coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.23.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE ET traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $16.86. 22,793,266 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,883,168. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.42. Energy Transfer has a twelve month low of $14.60 and a twelve month high of $21.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $19.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.84 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.08% and a net margin of 5.80%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Energy Transfer will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a $0.3325 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.33 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.9%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer's payout ratio is 103.10%.

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.

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