Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Down 1.1% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) dropped 1.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $19.51 and last traded at $19.52. Approximately 3,667,272 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 12,185,768 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.73.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ET shares. Bank of America started coverage on Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.55.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $18.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.06. The company has a market capitalization of $66.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.70.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The business had revenue of $20.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.59 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.3225 per share. This represents a $1.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Energy Transfer by 32.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 94,442 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,532,000 after acquiring an additional 23,079 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer during the second quarter valued at approximately $419,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Energy Transfer by 5.5% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 28,942 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 172.8% in the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 54,722 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $895,000 after buying an additional 34,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 4,212,788 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $68,331,000 after acquiring an additional 271,435 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

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.