Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading 0.9% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) shot up 0.9% during trading on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $23.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Energy Transfer traded as high as $16.30 and last traded at $16.25. 3,090,749 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 13,308,549 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.11.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Energy Transfer

In other news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 3,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.68 per share, for a total transaction of $47,040,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 123,385,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,686,992. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Energy Transfer news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 3,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $47,040,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 123,385,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,934,686,992. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas E. Long acquired 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.68 per share, for a total transaction of $313,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 4,308,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,562,909.12. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 3,040,000 shares of company stock valued at $47,667,200 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ET. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 133,559 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter worth $645,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 208,553 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,878,000 after buying an additional 58,147 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,624,151 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $22,413,000 after buying an additional 26,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 1,207,751 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $16,667,000 after purchasing an additional 71,530 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $54.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.66.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.01). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 12.74%. The firm had revenue of $20.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. Energy Transfer’s revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.43%.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

Energy Transfer LP provides energy-related services. The company owns and operates natural gas transportation pipeline, and natural gas storage facilities in Texas and Oklahoma; and approximately 20,090 miles of interstate natural gas pipeline. It also sells natural gas to electric utilities, independent power plants, local distribution and other marketing companies, and industrial end-users.