Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.60.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ET shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Energy Transfer to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 4,544,553 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $74,940,000 after purchasing an additional 578,137 shares during the period. Fund Advisors of America Inc FL acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth about $948,000. World Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 114,499 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,888,000 after purchasing an additional 16,781 shares during the last quarter. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at about $219,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,880,623 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $31,021,000 after buying an additional 33,344 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

NYSE:ET opened at $18.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.32. Energy Transfer has a 1-year low of $14.60 and a 1-year high of $19.30. The firm has a market cap of $64.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.63.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.09). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 10.17% 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 last year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 29.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.2%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is 110.74%.

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.