Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Down 1.4%

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) shares fell 1.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $14.97 and last traded at $15.02. 6,219,346 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 12,245,048 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ET. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.57.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $51.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.97 and a beta of 1.64. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.22.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.46 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 6th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 109,332.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 145,943,387 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,732,348,000 after buying an additional 145,810,023 shares in the last quarter. First Reserve GP XIII Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth about $322,097,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 81,532,518 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,125,149,000 after buying an additional 18,087,249 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 76,339,168 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $906,146,000 after buying an additional 13,220,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 14.5% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 73,666,501 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,033,541,000 after buying an additional 9,341,798 shares in the last quarter. 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.