Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Still a Buy?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price shot up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $19.27 and last traded at $19.1550. Approximately 7,341,778 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 14,701,520 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ET has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price target (up from $22.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Energy Transfer presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.45.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 1.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.48. The firm has a market cap of $65.92 billion, a PE ratio of 15.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.55.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.05). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 9.77%. The firm had revenue of $27.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a $0.3375 dividend. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 112.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 93.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 24,530 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 11,844 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 62.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,041 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 8,118 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 6.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 135,395 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,455,000 after purchasing an additional 7,901 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Energy Transfer by 436.5% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,179 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 5.6% in the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 50,919 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $923,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 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.