Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Shares Up 0.1% After Analyst Upgrade

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price rose 0.1% during trading on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $20.00 to $26.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Energy Transfer traded as high as $19.13 and last traded at $18.91. Approximately 2,978,205 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 14,513,480 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.88.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ET. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Energy Transfer presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.09.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ET. Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 34,320 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Private Client Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Client Services LLC now owns 16,915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,540 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 130,202 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,551,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cannell & Spears LLC raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 135,647 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,657,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.76, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.74% and a return on equity of 11.56%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.325 dividend. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.89%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.56%.

About Energy Transfer

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.