NuStar Energy (NYSE:NS) Trading Up 4.8%

NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE:NS) rose 4.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $21.48 and last traded at $21.33. Approximately 738,220 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 858,652 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of NuStar Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of NuStar Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $21.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed 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. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of NuStar Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of NuStar Energy in a report on Saturday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.43.

NuStar Energy Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $23.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.85.

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

NuStar Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 6th. NuStar Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 225.35%.

Institutional Trading of NuStar Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in NuStar Energy by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 339,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,349,000 after purchasing an additional 14,900 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $66,042,000 after acquiring an additional 351,608 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of NuStar Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $675,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of NuStar Energy by 298.8% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 526,838 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $9,841,000 after acquiring an additional 394,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Multi Strategy Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of NuStar Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $280,000. 63.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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