Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Up 0.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s share price traded up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $18.00 to $22.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Energy Transfer traded as high as $18.65 and last traded at $18.22. 4,145,066 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 13,688,023 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.20.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on ET. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Energy Transfer presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.55.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ET. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 65.0% in the 3rd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 2,138.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,746 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 43.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,472 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 44.8% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,357 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 3.2 %

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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.63. The stock has a market cap of $64.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.70.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm had revenue of $20.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. Energy Transfer’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.3225 dividend. This represents a $1.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.85%.

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.