Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Shares Up 1.4% After Analyst Upgrade

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s share price traded up 1.4% during trading on Wednesday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $20.00 to $21.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Energy Transfer traded as high as $19.30 and last traded at $18.8650. 19,316,488 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 16% from the average session volume of 16,603,844 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.61.

ET has been the topic of several other research reports. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 target price (down previously from $25.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, January 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Energy Transfer to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.27.

Energy Transfer News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen bumped its price target to $21 and maintains a “buy” rating, implying more upside from current levels and giving institutional support to the stock’s near-term outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and retail commentary emphasize ET’s high yield and improving cash flow fundamentals after record operational results; The Motley Fool notes record results that underpin a 7.2% yield and a stronger financial position heading into 2026. Energy Transfer’s Record Results Put Its 7.2%-Yielding Dividend on a Rock-Solid Foundation
• Positive Sentiment: Seeking Alpha retail coverage is bullish, urging investors to “scoop up” ET for its high yield and distribution reliability—attention that can attract income-focused buyers. Energy Transfer: Scoop Up This High-Yielding Deal Now
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary argues that selling on the Q4 EPS miss could be premature—analysts point to record volumes, EBITDA and a visible project backlog that support distributions and midstream cash flows. Selling Energy Transfer stock on Q4 earnings miss may be a mistake
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat’s “Value or Growth” piece positions ET as the income-oriented way to play the energy transition (record adjusted EBITDA, higher throughput, $4.5B organic capex), useful context for investors deciding between yield vs. growth exposure. Value or Growth: 2 Ways to Invest in the Energy Transition (ET)
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 EPS missed consensus (reported $0.25 vs. $0.34 expected) and net income declined year-over-year despite a strong revenue beat; this creates short-term performance pressure and gives critics ammunition to question near-term earnings quality. Energy Transfer Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates, Revenues Increase Y/Y
• Negative Sentiment: Longer-form critique notes another year of comparatively poor total returns to unitholders despite distribution support, reminding investors that yield alone doesn’t guarantee share-price appreciation. Energy Transfer: Another Year Of Comparatively Poor Returns To Investors

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Energy Transfer by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 86,310,272 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,423,256,000 after purchasing an additional 25,366,594 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 83,843,087 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,382,573,000 after purchasing an additional 6,192,066 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 57,862,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $992,923,000 after buying an additional 1,773,042 shares during the period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 38,675,828 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $637,764,000 after buying an additional 103,245 shares during the period. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 1.4% during the third quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 23,351,183 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $400,706,000 after acquiring an additional 326,653 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $64.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.59, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.15.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.09). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 10.38% and a net margin of 5.11%.The firm had revenue of $25.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. Energy Transfer’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 107.20%.

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.