Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Up 0.8%

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) shares rose 0.8% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $15.96 and last traded at $15.96. Approximately 3,833,361 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 12,369,467 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.83.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ET has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price (up previously from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.00.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $53.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 1.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.46 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 12.17%. Energy Transfer’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP 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 Tuesday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were issued a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.92%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ET. First Reserve GP XIII Ltd purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth $322,097,000. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 73,666,501 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,033,541,000 after purchasing an additional 9,341,798 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 25,621,485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $353,576,000 after purchasing an additional 7,097,074 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 25,423,547 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $350,845,000 after purchasing an additional 3,976,676 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 1,447.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,756,955 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $518,460,000 after purchasing an additional 3,514,195 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

Energy Transfer LP provides energy-related services. The company owns and operates natural gas transportation pipeline, and natural gas storage facilities in Texas and Oklahoma; and approximately 20,090 miles of interstate natural gas pipeline. It also sells natural gas to electric utilities, independent power plants, local distribution and other marketing companies, and industrial end-users.