Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Up 0.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) shares rose 0.5% on Thursday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $18.00 to $19.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Energy Transfer traded as high as $16.40 and last traded at $16.33. Approximately 7,240,927 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 12,165,323 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.25.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on ET. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (up previously from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 119,075 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,873,000 after acquiring an additional 3,929 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 143,825 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,262,000 after buying an additional 20,961 shares in the last quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 1,157,471 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $18,207,000 after buying an additional 10,400 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the first quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the first quarter worth about $86,000. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.55 and a 200-day moving average of $14.44. The stock has a market cap of $54.68 billion, a PE ratio of 14.89 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $21.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.91 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. Energy Transfer’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. Research analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $0.317 dividend. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.81%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is 116.51%.

About Energy Transfer

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.