Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Shares Up 0.5%

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) shot up 0.5% on Friday . The company traded as high as $15.97 and last traded at $15.86. 3,362,409 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 12,120,289 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price 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. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target (up from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.39. The company has a market capitalization of $53.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 1.63. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.08. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. The firm 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 firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. Energy Transfer’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.98%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 115.60%.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 112.9% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 146,943 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,028,000 after buying an additional 77,938 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Energy Transfer by 230.9% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 736,634 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,335,000 after acquiring an additional 513,989 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its position in Energy Transfer by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 28,250 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. Fractal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 5,682,061 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $79,719,000 after purchasing an additional 647,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 421,372 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,912,000 after purchasing an additional 77,352 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.