Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Shares Down 0.4% – Here’s What Happened

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s share price fell 0.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $18.80 and last traded at $18.83. 1,878,258 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 14,486,133 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ET. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.55.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 1.1 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $64.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.74% and a return on equity of 11.56%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.325 dividend. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ET. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 15.0% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 346,825 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,567,000 after buying an additional 45,172 shares in the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter worth about $1,297,000. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT increased its holdings in Energy Transfer by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 7,586,598 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $148,621,000 after buying an additional 293,088 shares during the last quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 164.1% during the 4th quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60,566 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,186,000 after buying an additional 37,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 242,042 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,885,000 after acquiring an additional 57,184 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

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.