Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) were up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $15.87 and last traded at $15.74. Approximately 2,399,505 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 12,151,020 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ET shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup upped their price target on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.57.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $51.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.15 and a beta of 1.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $15.06 and a 200 day moving average of $14.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $21.46 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.44 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 6th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ET. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 145,810,023 shares in the last quarter. First Reserve GP XIII Ltd bought a new position in Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter valued at about $322,097,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 81,532,518 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,125,149,000 after buying an additional 18,087,249 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 76,339,168 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $906,146,000 after buying an additional 13,220,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 14.5% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 73,666,501 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $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.