Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $20.74 and last traded at $20.6230, with a volume of 1237999 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $20.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $23.58.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $19.58 and its 200 day moving average is $19.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $70.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.55.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.21. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.71% and a net margin of 4.87%.The firm had revenue of $34.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.44 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.6%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 112.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Texas Yale Capital Corp. grew its position in Energy Transfer by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 1,311,965 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $21,634,000 after purchasing an additional 75,700 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 100.1% in the fourth quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 161,523 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,664,000 after buying an additional 80,786 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 179.0% during the first quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 162,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,129,000 after acquiring an additional 104,000 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Energy Transfer by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,560,110 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $25,726,000 after acquiring an additional 129,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new position in Energy Transfer in the first quarter valued at approximately $61,760,000. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.