Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Raises Dividend to $0.33 Per Share

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of 0.325 per share by the pipeline company on Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32.

Energy Transfer has increased its dividend payment by an average of 27.9% annually over the last three years. Energy Transfer has a payout ratio of 82.2% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities analysts expect Energy Transfer to earn $1.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.29 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 89.0%.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 2.8 %

ET stock traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.36. 21,925,518 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,127,695. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.43 and its 200-day moving average is $17.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $69.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.70. Energy Transfer has a 52-week low of $13.79 and a 52-week high of $21.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. The firm had revenue of $20.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.59 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 5.90%. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Energy Transfer will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on ET. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.82.

About Energy Transfer

Energy Transfer LP provides energy-related services. The company owns and operates natural gas transportation pipeline, and natural gas storage facilities in Texas and Oklahoma; and approximately 20,090 miles of interstate natural gas pipeline. It also sells natural gas to electric utilities, independent power plants, local distribution and other marketing companies, and industrial end-users.