Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading 0.5% Higher – Should You Buy?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price was up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $20.51 and last traded at $20.41. Approximately 3,639,911 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 16,555,266 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ET shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.18.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 2.7 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $19.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.87. The company has a market capitalization of $66.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 5.74%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,634,018 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $756,840,000 after purchasing an additional 5,254,721 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 23,987,750 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $469,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,683 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,776,221 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $387,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093,381 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,331,220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $319,929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,512,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 15,738,594 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $308,319,000 after purchasing an additional 388,073 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.