Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Up 2.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price was up 2.3% during mid-day trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $18.00 to $22.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Energy Transfer traded as high as $18.77 and last traded at $18.69. Approximately 3,362,042 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 13,688,892 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.27.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on ET. Bank of America initiated coverage on Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.55.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ET. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 12.7% in the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 36,668,846 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $594,769,000 after purchasing an additional 4,141,715 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Energy Transfer by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,379,297 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $535,738,000 after buying an additional 10,195,768 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,107,470 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $261,263,000 after acquiring an additional 171,720 shares during the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 15,350,521 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $246,376,000 after acquiring an additional 466,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookfield Corp ON raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.8% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 13,139,924 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $210,896,000 after acquiring an additional 352,625 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.63. The company has a market capitalization of $64.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.70.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The firm had revenue of $20.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.59 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 5.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.3225 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.84%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.