Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of New Fortress Energy Put Options (NASDAQ:NFE)

New Fortress Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:NFE) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 8,274 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 59% compared to the average daily volume of 5,198 put options.

New Fortress Energy Price Performance

Shares of NFE traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $19.11. 472,344 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,755,400. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.52. The stock has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 8.97 and a beta of 1.49. New Fortress Energy has a 12 month low of $19.02 and a 12 month high of $40.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74.

New Fortress Energy (NASDAQ:NFE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $690.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $602.41 million. New Fortress Energy had a return on equity of 31.34% and a net margin of 17.90%. New Fortress Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Equities analysts expect that New Fortress Energy will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

New Fortress Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. New Fortress Energy’s payout ratio is 18.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NFE shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on New Fortress Energy from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on New Fortress Energy from $33.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on New Fortress Energy from $32.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.00.

Institutional Trading of New Fortress Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NFE. American National Bank bought a new stake in New Fortress Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in New Fortress Energy by 563.6% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in New Fortress Energy by 987.8% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 3,408 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in New Fortress Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $95,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in New Fortress Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $119,000. Institutional investors own 58.61% of the company’s stock.

About New Fortress Energy

New Fortress Energy Inc operates as an integrated gas-to-power energy infrastructure company that provides energy and development services to end-users worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Terminals and Infrastructure, and Ships. The Terminals and Infrastructure segment engages in the natural gas procurement and liquefaction; and shipping, logistics, facilities and conversion, or development of natural gas-fired power generation.