Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Down 1.1% – What’s Next?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price traded down 1.1% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $20.15 and last traded at $20.1670. 15,344,604 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 5% from the average session volume of 16,151,581 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.39.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.73.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 0.4%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $27.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.78 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 9.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.3375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Energy Transfer

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.