Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Shares Up 1.2% on Analyst Upgrade

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) traded up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $23.00 to $25.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Energy Transfer traded as high as $18.83 and last traded at $18.7750. 16,703,391 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 5% from the average session volume of 15,835,364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.56.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, January 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Energy Transfer by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Energy Transfer in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Navalign LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 1.2%

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.59 billion, a PE ratio of 15.52, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.09). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 10.17% and a net margin of 5.11%.The company had revenue of $25.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.1%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.