Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Price Target Raised to $25.00 at Morgan Stanley

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $23.00 to $25.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 17.84% from the company’s previous close.

ET has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Energy Transfer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (up from $23.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Energy Transfer from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.08.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of ET traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.21. The stock had a trading volume of 1,464,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,294,045. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The company has a market capitalization of $73.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50-day moving average is $19.80 and its 200 day moving average is $19.35. Energy Transfer has a 12-month low of $16.18 and a 12-month high of $21.32.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $34.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.71 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 4.87%.Energy Transfer’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Energy Transfer will post 1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James Richard Perry acquired 12,359 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.23 per share, with a total value of $250,022.57. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 208,046 shares in the company, valued at $4,208,770.58. This trade represents a 6.32% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ET. Asset Allocation Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Allocation Strategies LLC now owns 45,234 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $865,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 173.7% in the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 40,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 25,847 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Energy Transfer in the 2nd quarter worth $203,000. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 7.8% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 1,868,875 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $35,733,000 after acquiring an additional 135,275 shares during the period. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.1% in the second quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 87,271 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 943 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.