Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Down 1% – Here’s Why

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) was down 1% during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock traded as low as $20.41 and last traded at $20.41. 6,309,315 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 12,422,057 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Energy Transfer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Capital One Financial assumed coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.36.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 1.0%

The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.99. The company has a market capitalization of $70.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 0.60.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.21. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.87% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The firm had revenue of $34.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 78.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.3375. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James Perry bought 12,359 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $20.23 per share, for a total transaction of $250,022.57. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 208,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,208,770.58. This represents a 6.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kelcy Warren bought 647,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $21.26 per share, for a total transaction of $13,775,799.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 147,901,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,144,393,947.54. This trade represents a 0.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders bought 1,012,359 shares of company stock valued at $21,513,543. Insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ET. Summit Securities Group LLC increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 179.0% during the first quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 162,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,129,000 after acquiring an additional 104,000 shares during the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 39.0% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 224,439 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,332,000 after purchasing an additional 62,916 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 15.8% during the first quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 1,888,661 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $36,451,000 after acquiring an additional 257,954 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $61,760,000. Finally, Independent Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,170,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

About Energy Transfer

Energy Transfer LP is a diversified energy infrastructure company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The partnership owns and operates a broad network of pipelines, processing facilities, storage assets and terminals that support the movement of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil and refined products across the United States.

The company’s operations include gathering and processing natural gas, transporting and storing natural gas and NGLs, fractionating NGLs into component products, and transporting crude oil and refined products.