Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Up 0.3%

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price shot up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $16.00 and last traded at $15.97. 1,256,783 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 11,852,419 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Mizuho raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.29.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $53.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.66, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.63. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.97.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.04). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The business had revenue of $21.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. Energy Transfer’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.317 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.96%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 116.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ET. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 56,366 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 112.9% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 146,943 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 77,938 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 95.8% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 145,894 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,013,000 after buying an additional 71,386 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in Energy Transfer by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 26,335 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 4,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 230.9% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 736,634 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,335,000 after buying an additional 513,989 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

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.