Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Down 1.5% – Time to Sell?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price traded down 1.5% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $18.72 and last traded at $19.0190. 21,584,447 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 37% from the average session volume of 15,809,467 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ET has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Friday, January 16th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Energy Transfer to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.60.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 1.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $65.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.44.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. Energy Transfer’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. 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 7.0%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 110.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ET. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 86,310,272 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,423,256,000 after purchasing an additional 25,366,594 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 83,843,087 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,382,573,000 after purchasing an additional 6,192,066 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 57,862,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $992,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,773,042 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. raised its position in Energy Transfer by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 38,675,828 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $637,764,000 after purchasing an additional 103,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC raised its position in Energy Transfer by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 23,351,183 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $400,706,000 after purchasing an additional 326,653 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.