Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Down 1% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) were down 1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $17.36 and last traded at $18.01. Approximately 10,977,815 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 17,185,857 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.20.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ET shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective 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 objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.55.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 1.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.81 and its 200 day moving average is $18.09. The firm has a market cap of $59.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72.

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

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.325 dividend. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.44%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is 101.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,634,018 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $756,840,000 after buying an additional 5,254,721 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 7.7% in 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 buying an additional 1,723,683 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 5.9% in 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 buying an additional 1,093,381 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 18.2% in 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 buying an additional 2,512,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.5% in 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 buying an additional 388,073 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.