Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Down 1.5% – Here’s Why

Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) traded down 1.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $18.72 and last traded at $19.0190. 21,584,447 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 37% from the average session volume of 15,809,467 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.60.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

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 market cap of $65.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.46.

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 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 analyst estimates of $23.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 29.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 110.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

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

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.