Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading 1.2% Higher Following Dividend Announcement

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) shares traded up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $20.11 and last traded at $20.05. 5,262,764 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 17,081,656 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.81.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.325 per share. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.33%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 94.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. 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 on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.82.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market cap of $70.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.41.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 5.90%. The firm had revenue of $20.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 160,529 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,145,000 after buying an additional 4,513 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $615,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 114,345 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,240,000 after buying an additional 25,994 shares during the period. Certuity LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $485,000. Finally, SRH Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.