Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Up 0.8% on Analyst Upgrade

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price was up 0.8% on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $20.00 to $23.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Energy Transfer traded as high as $19.07 and last traded at $18.99. Approximately 3,530,602 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 13,666,538 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.84.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ET. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $20.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 26.7% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 696,770 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,302,000 after acquiring an additional 146,799 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 4.3% in the second quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 156,613 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,541,000 after acquiring an additional 6,440 shares during the period. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 111.0% during the 2nd quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 33,913 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 17,838 shares in the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,658 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the second quarter valued at approximately $372,000. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $17.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The company 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%. Energy Transfer’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. Analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.3225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.88%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is 94.85%.

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.