Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Up 2.6%

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) rose 2.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $15.65 and last traded at $15.62. Approximately 6,714,783 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 12,376,579 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ET has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup upped their target price on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price (up from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.71.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 1.8 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 1.64.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.08. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. The business had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 yield of 8.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Energy Transfer by 109,332.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 145,943,387 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,732,348,000 after purchasing an additional 145,810,023 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 81,532,518 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,125,149,000 after buying an additional 18,087,249 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 76,339,168 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $906,146,000 after buying an additional 13,220,435 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 14.5% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 73,666,501 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,033,541,000 after buying an additional 9,341,798 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 28,642,769 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $395,270,000 after buying an additional 3,368,427 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.