Analysts Set Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Price Target at $21.27

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.20.

ET has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday, February 18th.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of ET opened at $18.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.18. Energy Transfer has a 12 month low of $14.60 and a 12 month high of $19.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.66.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.09). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 10.17% and a net margin of 5.11%.The business had revenue of $25.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 29.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Energy Transfer will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 110.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ET. Brighton Jones LLC lifted 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 worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 11,844 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 8,118 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 28.7% in the second quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 30,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 6,752 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the second quarter valued at about $466,000. Finally, CNB Bank increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 111.1% during the second quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

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.