NuStar Energy (NYSE:NS) Shares Up 4.8%

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on NS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of NuStar Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded NuStar Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $21.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of NuStar Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com started coverage on NuStar Energy in a report on Saturday, April 13th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up from $20.00) on shares of NuStar Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NuStar Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.43.

NuStar Energy Trading Up 2.1 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.76, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.97 and a beta of 1.70.

NuStar Energy (NYSE:NS) last issued 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 company had revenue of $451.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.69 million. NuStar Energy had a return on equity of 107.61% and a net margin of 16.75%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that NuStar Energy L.P. will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NuStar Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a None dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $0.212 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. NuStar Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 225.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NuStar Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NS. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 194,568 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 4,586,344 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 1,086,994 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 351,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blackstone Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 1,084,858 shares in the last quarter. 63.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.