Energy Transfer Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:ET)

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 126,415 call options on the company. This is an increase of 41% compared to the typical volume of 89,475 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Bank of America started 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.82.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ET traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $21.00. 13,669,996 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,296,581. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $19.16 and a 200 day moving average of $17.26. Energy Transfer has a 1 year low of $13.79 and a 1 year high of $21.45. The stock has a market cap of $71.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 5.90%. The firm had revenue of $20.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.31 earnings per share. Energy Transfer’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Energy Transfer will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.14%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,379,297 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $535,738,000 after acquiring an additional 10,195,768 shares in the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 15,738,594 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $308,319,000 after buying an additional 388,073 shares during the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.8% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 13,139,924 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $210,896,000 after purchasing an additional 352,625 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 36.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,563,478 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $185,594,000 after buying an additional 3,106,631 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 45.9% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 9,581,762 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $153,787,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013,973 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.