Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Up 1.1% – What’s Next?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) shot up 1.1% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $17.69 and last traded at $17.63. 18,602,455 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 21% from the average session volume of 15,436,677 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.44.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on ET. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $17.00 price objective on Energy Transfer and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.50.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 1.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $60.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $16.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.06.

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 the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were given a $0.3325 dividend. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.33 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.5%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 106.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Energy Transfer

In other news, Director Kelcy L. Warren acquired 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.95 per share, for a total transaction of $16,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 104,577,803 shares in the company, valued at $1,772,593,760.85. This represents a 0.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 4.5% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 77,651,021 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,332,492,000 after purchasing an additional 3,366,734 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Energy Transfer by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 57,862,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $992,923,000 after buying an additional 1,773,042 shares in the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 23,351,183 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $400,706,000 after buying an additional 326,653 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,898,420 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $375,777,000 after buying an additional 544,944 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in Energy Transfer in the third quarter worth approximately $264,309,000. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.