Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.75.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ET. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Energy Transfer

In other Energy Transfer news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.95 per share, with a total value of $16,950,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 104,577,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,772,593,760.85. This represents a 0.97% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ET. Clear Trail Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,047,000. Atlas Brown Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $219,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Energy Transfer by 187.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,940,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $31,999,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264,627 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. acquired a new position in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth $689,000. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 209,368 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,452,000 after buying an additional 17,045 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE ET opened at $16.97 on Friday. Energy Transfer has a 1-year low of $14.60 and a 1-year high of $21.45. The company has a market capitalization of $58.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $16.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 10.71% and a net margin of 5.66%.The company had revenue of $19.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Energy Transfer’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Energy Transfer will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.3325 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.33 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.8%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.40%.

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.