Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Equitrans Midstream (NYSE:ETRN)

Equitrans Midstream Co. (NYSE:ETRN) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 41,173 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 330% compared to the average daily volume of 9,579 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitrans Midstream

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Equitrans Midstream by 688.2% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 12,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 11,005 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in Equitrans Midstream during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $282,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in Equitrans Midstream by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 33,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Equitrans Midstream by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 91,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $862,000 after purchasing an additional 17,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio increased its position in Equitrans Midstream by 38.9% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 52,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 14,800 shares in the last quarter. 87.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ETRN shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Equitrans Midstream from $6.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Equitrans Midstream in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Equitrans Midstream from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.86.

Equitrans Midstream Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ETRN opened at $13.72 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.97. Equitrans Midstream has a one year low of $4.65 and a one year high of $13.75. The company’s fifty day moving average is $11.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

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

Equitrans Midstream Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.37%. Equitrans Midstream’s payout ratio is currently 67.42%.

Equitrans Midstream Company Profile

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.