Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Down 0.1% – Time to Sell?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) shares dropped 0.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $18.98 and last traded at $19.14. Approximately 3,774,060 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 16,828,857 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ET has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.55.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $66.27 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.69.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.74% and a return on equity of 11.56%. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.73%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 65.0% during the 3rd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 2,138.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,746 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.