Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Up 0.5% – Time to Buy?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) shares traded up 0.5% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $20.51 and last traded at $20.41. 3,639,911 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 16,555,266 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.30.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ET shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.18.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $68.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.83 and a 200-day moving average of $17.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.74% and a return on equity of 11.66%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.325 dividend. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.47%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.56%.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,488 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its position in Energy Transfer by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 64,775 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,269,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Helium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at $500,000. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth about $353,000. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors 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.