Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $20.74 and last traded at $20.6230, with a volume of 1237999 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ET. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up from $22.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research raised Energy Transfer from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research 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 given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Energy Transfer currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $23.58.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $19.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.17. The firm has a market cap of $70.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $34.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.71 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.87% and a return on equity of 11.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders 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 yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 112.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Energy Transfer by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 86,310,272 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,423,256,000 after acquiring an additional 25,366,594 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in 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 during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer in the first quarter valued at $61,760,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.2% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 30,956,358 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $597,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656,609 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Energy Transfer

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.