Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Shares Down 7.6% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) dropped 7.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $15.63 and last traded at $16.39. Approximately 22,535,972 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 53% from the average daily volume of 14,695,584 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ET. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.09.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $55.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.18 and its 200 day moving average is $18.44.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.74% and a return on equity of 11.56%. As a group, analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.325 dividend. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.07%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,634,018 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $756,840,000 after buying an additional 5,254,721 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 23,987,750 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $469,920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723,683 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,776,221 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $387,416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093,381 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,331,220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $319,929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,512,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 2.5% in 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 in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.