Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Up 0.6% – Still a Buy?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price shot up 0.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $19.74 and last traded at $19.70. 4,103,020 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 13,659,068 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ET shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.55.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $67.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.40, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $18.29 and its 200 day moving average is $16.87.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The business had revenue of $20.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. Energy Transfer’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.3225 per share. This represents a $1.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ET. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 32.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 94,442 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,532,000 after acquiring an additional 23,079 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 2nd quarter valued at $163,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 18.7% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 138,936 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,254,000 after purchasing an additional 21,897 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in Energy Transfer by 9.4% during the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 263,337 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,271,000 after buying an additional 22,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Energy Transfer during the second quarter worth $419,000. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

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.