Short Interest in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Rises By 12.5%

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) was the target of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 27,860,000 shares, an increase of 12.5% from the September 30th total of 24,770,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 14,310,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE ET traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $16.46. 10,717,512 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,999,492. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.14. Energy Transfer has a twelve month low of $12.90 and a twelve month high of $16.64.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $20.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.01 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.74% and a net margin of 5.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Energy Transfer will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.3225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.84%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 108.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ET shares. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $20.00.

Insider Transactions at Energy Transfer

In other news, EVP Gregory G. Mcilwain bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $313,600.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 591,211 shares in the company, valued at $9,270,188.48. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Gregory G. Mcilwain bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $313,600.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 591,211 shares in the company, valued at $9,270,188.48. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 3,000,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $47,040,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 123,385,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,686,992. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 3,040,000 shares of company stock valued at $47,667,200 in the last ninety days. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 36,668,846 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $594,769,000 after purchasing an additional 4,141,715 shares during the period. Natixis boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 18,020,559 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $283,463,000 after purchasing an additional 2,999,300 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,107,470 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $261,263,000 after purchasing an additional 171,720 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 15,350,521 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $246,376,000 after buying an additional 466,565 shares during the period. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 7,293,510 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $117,061,000 after buying an additional 536,047 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.