Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Down 1.5% – Here’s Why

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) shares were down 1.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $18.81 and last traded at $18.9290. Approximately 7,833,230 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 14,763,099 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ET. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up from $22.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Energy Transfer has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $23.45.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 1.5%

The stock has a market cap of $65.14 billion, a PE ratio of 15.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s fifty day moving average is $19.42 and its 200 day moving average is $18.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.05). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 9.77% and a net margin of 4.66%.The company had revenue of $27.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 32.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $0.3375 dividend. This represents a $1.35 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ET. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 86,310,272 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,423,256,000 after buying an additional 25,366,594 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer in the 3rd quarter valued at about $264,309,000. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 83,843,087 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,382,573,000 after acquiring an additional 6,192,066 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the 1st quarter valued at about $61,760,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Energy Transfer by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 57,862,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $992,923,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773,042 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is 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.