Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Up 1.2% – Time to Buy?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) traded up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $20.65 and last traded at $20.59. 2,825,381 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 17,253,789 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.35.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Energy Transfer Trading Down 1.4 %

The company has a market cap of $71.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company’s 50-day moving average is $19.57 and its 200 day moving average is $17.46.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.325 dividend. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.26%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.85%.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 44.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,379,297 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $535,738,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,768 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 15,738,594 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $308,319,000 after purchasing an additional 388,073 shares during the period. Brookfield Corp ON raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 2.8% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 13,139,924 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $210,896,000 after purchasing an additional 352,625 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 36.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,563,478 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $185,594,000 after purchasing an additional 3,106,631 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 45.9% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 9,581,762 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $153,787,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013,973 shares during the period. 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.