StockNews.com Begins Coverage on NuStar Energy (NYSE:NS)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of NuStar Energy (NYSE:NS) in a report released on Saturday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an underweight rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of NuStar Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a hold rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up previously from $20.00) on shares of NuStar Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded NuStar Energy from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $21.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a market perform rating on shares of NuStar Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $19.43.

NuStar Energy Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NS stock opened at $20.37 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.14 and a 200 day moving average of $20.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.76. The stock has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.69 and a beta of 1.70. NuStar Energy has a twelve month low of $14.70 and a twelve month high of $24.50.

NuStar Energy (NYSE:NS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $451.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.69 million. NuStar Energy had a return on equity of 107.61% and a net margin of 16.75%. NuStar Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NuStar Energy will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

NuStar Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 6th. NuStar Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 225.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NuStar Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NS. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of NuStar Energy by 1.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,566,959 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $358,688,000 after purchasing an additional 194,568 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NuStar Energy by 30.0% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 19,865,418 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $346,453,000 after purchasing an additional 4,586,344 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of NuStar Energy by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,112,629 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $114,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086,994 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NuStar Energy by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,535,454 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $66,042,000 after purchasing an additional 351,608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blackstone Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NuStar Energy by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 3,401,626 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $63,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084,858 shares during the last quarter. 63.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About NuStar Energy

NuStar Energy L.P. engages in the transportation, terminalling, and storage of petroleum products and renewable fuels, and transportation of anhydrous ammonia in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Pipeline, Storage, and Fuels Marketing. The Pipeline segment engages in the transportation of refined products, crude oil, and anhydrous ammonia.