Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Up 1.6% Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) traded up 1.6% during trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $18.25 and last traded at $18.2450. 13,425,433 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the average session volume of 15,906,451 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.95.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.3%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is 106.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective (down previously from $25.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised Energy Transfer to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.50.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 1.6%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.07. 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 has a market capitalization of $62.64 billion, a PE ratio of 14.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Key Headlines Impacting Energy Transfer

Here are the key news stories impacting Energy Transfer this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Winter Storm Fern is driving near-term natural gas and power price spikes, validating the value of pipeline/storage assets and positioning Energy Transfer to benefit from higher flows, regional price spreads and demand for firm gas supply. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Energy Transfer announced a quarterly distribution increase to $0.335 per share (7.4% yield), signaling management’s focus on steady income and supporting the stock’s appeal to yield investors. Ex-dividend is Feb 6; payment Feb 19. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Insider and “super-investor” accumulation and management’s strategic pause on the Lake Charles LNG project (to redeploy capital into higher-return pipeline projects) are being read as confidence and a de-risking of growth plans, supporting the reflation thesis. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary highlights ET’s growing distribution story, upward earnings revisions and discounted valuation versus peers, reinforcing the buy/income case. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Company executed a tenth supplemental indenture for senior notes — a financing/legal update investors should note but which appears procedural rather than immediately dilutive. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Longer-term performance pieces and retrospectives show solid total-return history for patients, which supports buy-and-hold narratives but is less likely to move the stock short term. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysis points to operating angles that need closer scrutiny (risk areas that could pressure multiple valuation if performance disappoints), so downside remains if operational/flow issues or margin pressure emerge. Read More.

Insider Activity at Energy Transfer

In other Energy Transfer news, Director Kelcy L. Warren bought 1,000,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.95 per share, with a total value of $16,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 104,577,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,772,593,760.85. This represents a 0.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 93.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 24,530 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 11,844 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 62.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,041 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 8,118 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 43.6% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 29,632 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 9,000 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 11.2% during the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 694,053 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $12,583,000 after buying an additional 69,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XML Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 5.3% in the second quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 39,543 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $717,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) is a Dallas-based midstream energy company that develops and operates infrastructure for the transportation, storage and processing of hydrocarbons. The company’s operations focus on moving and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined products through an integrated network of pipelines, terminals, storage facilities and processing plants. Energy Transfer provides core midstream services such as gathering, compression, fractionation, processing, and bulk transportation to support production and downstream supply chains.

Its asset base spans an extensive network across the United States, connecting producing regions, processing centers, petrochemical hubs and coastal and inland markets.