Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading 1.9% Higher – What’s Next?

Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) traded up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $20.71 and last traded at $20.69. 4,559,126 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 14,082,285 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.29.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.82.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $71.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.23.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. The business had revenue of $20.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.59 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.3225 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.18%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is 94.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ET. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 36,381 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 56.0% during the fourth quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 8,355 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 13,507 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 140,783 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,758,000 after purchasing an additional 3,123 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

Energy Transfer LP provides energy-related services. The company owns and operates natural gas transportation pipeline, and natural gas storage facilities in Texas and Oklahoma; and approximately 20,090 miles of interstate natural gas pipeline. It also sells natural gas to electric utilities, independent power plants, local distribution and other marketing companies, and industrial end-users.