Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Up 1.6% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) traded up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $20.00 to $22.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Energy Transfer traded as high as $19.46 and last traded at $19.23. 3,888,025 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 16,943,654 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.92.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on ET. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report 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 stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.55.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ET. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 65.0% during the third quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 2,138.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,746 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,668 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 1.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $65.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 earnings per share 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, equities analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.325 dividend. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 101.56%.

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.