Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Shares Climb 1.7% – Should You Buy?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s share price was up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $20.13 and last traded at $20.1040. 12,519,254 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 0% from the average daily volume of 12,553,077 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on ET shares. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective (up from $24.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research cut shares of Energy Transfer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $24.00 target price (up from $23.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.36.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 1.7%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.92. The company has a market cap of $69.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.21. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 4.87%.The business had revenue of $34.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.73 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, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.8%. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.3375. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.52%.

Insider Transactions at Energy Transfer

In other Energy Transfer news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 647,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $21.26 per share, with a total value of $13,775,799.68. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 147,901,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,144,393,947.54. This represents a 0.44% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James Perry purchased 12,359 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.23 per share, with a total value of $250,022.57. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 208,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,208,770.58. The trade was a 6.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought 1,012,359 shares of company stock worth $21,513,543 over the last quarter. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 8.6% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,244,157 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $23,788,000 after purchasing an additional 98,624 shares in the last quarter. Bullseye Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Talon Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Talon Private Wealth LLC now owns 53,343 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 78,368 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,498,000 after purchasing an additional 4,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 56.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,611,509 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,812,000 after purchasing an additional 583,196 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

About Energy Transfer

Energy Transfer LP is a diversified energy infrastructure company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The partnership owns and operates a broad network of pipelines, processing facilities, storage assets and terminals that support the movement of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil and refined products across the United States.

The company’s operations include gathering and processing natural gas, transporting and storing natural gas and NGLs, fractionating NGLs into component products, and transporting crude oil and refined products.