Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Up 0.5% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) shot up 0.5% on Monday . The company traded as high as $19.77 and last traded at $19.74. 2,364,376 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 14,885,208 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ET shares. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note 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 report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.55.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.94. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $67.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.70.

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

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.3225 per share. This represents a $1.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 44.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,379,297 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $535,738,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,768 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,107,470 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $261,263,000 after buying an additional 171,720 shares in the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 15,350,521 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $246,376,000 after buying an additional 466,565 shares in the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.8% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 13,139,924 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $210,896,000 after acquiring an additional 352,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,563,478 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $185,594,000 after purchasing an additional 3,106,631 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.