Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Shares Up 1% on Insider Buying Activity

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price was up 1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The company traded as high as $20.88 and last traded at $20.8050. Approximately 8,344,573 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 13,530,354 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.59.

Specifically, Director James Richard Perry purchased 12,359 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.23 per share, with a total value of $250,022.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 208,046 shares in the company, valued at $4,208,770.58. This trade represents a 6.32% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ET has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Energy Transfer from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 price target (up from $24.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $23.75.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.66 and a 200-day moving average of $19.24.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $34.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.71 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 4.87%.Energy Transfer’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is 92.52%.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ET. Reliant Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Energy Transfer during the second quarter worth $201,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 544,955 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,420,000 after buying an additional 12,773 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in Energy Transfer by 211.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 48,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 32,813 shares in the last quarter. MSH Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Energy Transfer by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter. MSH Capital Advisors LLC now owns 92,016 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 186,223 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,561,000 after buying an additional 13,934 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.