Equitrans Midstream Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:ETRN)

Equitrans Midstream Co. (NYSE:ETRN) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 40,061 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 336% compared to the typical daily volume of 9,182 put options.

Institutional Trading of Equitrans Midstream

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Equitrans Midstream during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Equitrans Midstream during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Equitrans Midstream in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in Equitrans Midstream in the second quarter valued at $410,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Equitrans Midstream during the first quarter worth $54,000. Institutional investors own 87.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TheStreet upgraded Equitrans Midstream from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on Equitrans Midstream from $6.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Equitrans Midstream in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Equitrans Midstream from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitrans Midstream presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.86.

Equitrans Midstream Stock Performance

NYSE ETRN opened at $12.28 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $11.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.30. Equitrans Midstream has a 52-week low of $4.60 and a 52-week high of $13.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.83, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.97.

Equitrans Midstream (NYSE:ETRN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.16. Equitrans Midstream had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 30.89%. The business had revenue of $360.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $348.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. Equitrans Midstream’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Equitrans Midstream will post 0.87 EPS for the current year.

Equitrans Midstream Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. Equitrans Midstream’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.42%.

About Equitrans Midstream

Equitrans Midstream Corporation owns, operates, acquires, and develops midstream assets in the Appalachian Basin. The company operates through Gathering, Transmission, and Water segments. It operates dry gas gathering systems of high-pressure gathering lines and FERC-regulated interstate pipelines and storage systems.