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

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s share price dropped 1.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $20.15 and last traded at $20.1670. Approximately 15,344,604 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 5% from the average daily volume of 16,151,581 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.39.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up from $22.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $22.73.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market cap of $69.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.81, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.57.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.05). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 9.77%. The business had revenue of $27.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 32.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.3375 per share. This represents a $1.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 112.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ET. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 93.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 24,530 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 11,844 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 62.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,041 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 8,118 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 6.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 135,395 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,455,000 after purchasing an additional 7,901 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 436.5% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,179 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 5.6% in the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 50,919 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $923,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

About Energy Transfer

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.