Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Down 1.4% After Analyst Downgrade

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price traded down 1.4% during trading on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $21.00 to $19.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Energy Transfer traded as low as $16.56 and last traded at $16.5950. 14,398,296 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 14,983,026 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.83.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.62.

Insider Transactions at Energy Transfer

In related news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.95 per share, with a total value of $16,950,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 104,577,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,772,593,760.85. This trade represents a 0.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 4.5% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 77,651,021 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,332,492,000 after acquiring an additional 3,366,734 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 57,862,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $992,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,773,042 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 38,205,495 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $710,240,000 after purchasing an additional 951,656 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 23,351,183 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $400,706,000 after purchasing an additional 326,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.6% during the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,898,420 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $375,777,000 after buying an additional 544,944 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $16.78 and its 200-day moving average is $17.36. The company has a market cap of $56.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.28, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.65.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.66% and a return on equity of 10.71%. The firm had revenue of $19.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a $0.3325 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.33 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.0%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 106.40%.

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.