SG Americas Securities LLC Cuts Stake in NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE:NS)

SG Americas Securities LLC trimmed its stake in NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE:NS) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 123,806 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,419 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned about 0.10% of NuStar Energy worth $2,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NuStar Energy by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 19,865,418 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $346,453,000 after purchasing an additional 4,586,344 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. raised its holdings in NuStar Energy by 319.6% in the third quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 2,316,768 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $40,404,000 after buying an additional 1,764,573 shares during the period. Eagle Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NuStar Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $19,941,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in NuStar Energy by 25.9% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,025,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $87,647,000 after buying an additional 1,032,722 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of NuStar Energy by 6.5% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,954,362 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $230,061,000 after acquiring an additional 975,659 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NS shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of NuStar Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $18.00 to $21.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of NuStar Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com began coverage on NuStar Energy in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up previously from $20.00) on shares of NuStar Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of NuStar Energy in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.43.

NuStar Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NS opened at $23.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.54 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $22.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.66. NuStar Energy L.P. has a 52-week low of $14.70 and a 52-week high of $24.50.

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

NuStar Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 7th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.93%. NuStar Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 225.35%.

NuStar Energy Profile

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 Pipeline, Storage, and Fuels Marketing segments. The Pipeline segment engages in the transportation of refined products, crude oil, and anhydrous ammonia.