Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Down 1.9% – Should You Sell?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s share price fell 1.9% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $20.40 and last traded at $20.5020. Approximately 10,043,792 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 21% from the average session volume of 12,646,315 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Energy Transfer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Energy Transfer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.36.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.84. The firm has a market cap of $70.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.21. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 4.87%.The firm had revenue of $34.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 78.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.6%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is 92.52%.

Insider Transactions at Energy Transfer

In other news, Director James Perry acquired 12,359 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.23 per share, with a total value of $250,022.57. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 208,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,208,770.58. This trade represents a 6.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelcy Warren bought 647,968 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.26 per share, with a total value of $13,775,799.68. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 147,901,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,144,393,947.54. This represents a 0.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 1,012,359 shares of company stock worth $21,513,543. Corporate insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bullseye Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Talon Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.7% in the second quarter. Talon Private Wealth LLC now owns 53,343 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 6.1% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 78,368 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,498,000 after acquiring an additional 4,491 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Energy Transfer by 56.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,611,509 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,812,000 after purchasing an additional 583,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 3.4% in the second quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. now owns 25,535 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Energy Transfer

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE: ET) is a diversified midstream energy partnership that owns and operates infrastructure used to transport, store, process and market energy commodities. Its assets support the movement of natural gas, crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), refined products and other hydrocarbon-based materials.

The company’s operations include natural gas gathering and processing, interstate and intrastate pipeline transportation, NGL fractionation and storage, crude oil and refined products transportation, and terminal services.