Morgan Stanley Cuts Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Price Target to $19.00

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) had its target price decreased by Morgan Stanley from $21.00 to $19.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

ET has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Energy Transfer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.62.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 0.4%

Energy Transfer stock opened at $16.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $57.61 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $16.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.35. Energy Transfer has a one year low of $14.60 and a one year high of $21.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $19.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.84 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.66% and a return on equity of 10.71%. The business’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.3325 dividend. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.33 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.9%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 106.40%.

Insider Transactions at Energy Transfer

In other news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $16.95 per share, with a total value of $16,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 104,577,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,772,593,760.85. This represents a 0.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. CNB Bank increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 111.1% in the 2nd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.