Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Shares Up 1.1% – Time to Buy?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price shot up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $17.16 and last traded at $17.1450. 13,357,606 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 15,424,169 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.96.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ET has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price target (down from $25.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $17.00 price target on Energy Transfer and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Energy Transfer to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.50.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $16.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market cap of $58.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.66.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 10.71% and a net margin of 5.66%.The company had revenue of $19.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a $0.3325 dividend. This represents a $1.33 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kelcy L. Warren bought 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.95 per share, with a total value of $16,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 104,577,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,772,593,760.85. The trade was a 0.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ET. Chelsea Counsel Co. lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 370.3% in the second quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 94,050 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,705,000 after buying an additional 74,050 shares in the last quarter. Ariston Services Group raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 126.7% during the second quarter. Ariston Services Group now owns 100,683 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 56,274 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the second quarter worth $930,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Energy Transfer by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 275,698 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,125,000 after acquiring an additional 29,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 223.7% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,690,771 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,168,440 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) is a Dallas-based midstream energy company that develops and operates infrastructure for the transportation, storage and processing of hydrocarbons. The company’s operations focus on moving and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined products through an integrated network of pipelines, terminals, storage facilities and processing plants. Energy Transfer provides core midstream services such as gathering, compression, fractionation, processing, and bulk transportation to support production and downstream supply chains.

Its asset base spans an extensive network across the United States, connecting producing regions, processing centers, petrochemical hubs and coastal and inland markets.