Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.33 Per Share

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of 0.325 per share by the pipeline company on Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32.

Energy Transfer has increased its dividend by an average of 27.9% per year over the last three years. Energy Transfer has a dividend payout ratio of 82.2% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Analysts expect Energy Transfer to earn $1.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.29 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 89.0%.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 2.8 %

ET stock traded up $0.55 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $20.36. 21,925,518 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,127,695. Energy Transfer has a 1 year low of $13.79 and a 1 year high of $21.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.72 billion, a PE ratio of 14.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.43 and a 200-day moving average of $17.39.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 analyst estimates of $21.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. Energy Transfer’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Energy Transfer will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ET has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Energy Transfer currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.82.

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.