Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading 1.9% Higher

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s share price traded up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $15.88 and last traded at $15.82. 4,413,108 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 12,375,201 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (up from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 2.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $53.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 1.64. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.23.

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

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.94%. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is 115.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ET. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in Energy Transfer by 112.9% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 146,943 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,028,000 after buying an additional 77,938 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Energy Transfer by 230.9% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 736,634 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,335,000 after buying an additional 513,989 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its position in Energy Transfer by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 28,250 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 903 shares during the period. Fractal Investments LLC grew its position in Energy Transfer by 12.9% during the third quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 5,682,061 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $79,719,000 after buying an additional 647,885 shares during the period. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. grew its position in Energy Transfer by 22.5% during the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 421,372 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,912,000 after buying an additional 77,352 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.