Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.75.

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank cut their target price on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $17.00 price target on shares of Energy Transfer and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kelcy L. Warren acquired 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $16.95 per share, for a total transaction of $16,950,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 104,577,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,772,593,760.85. This trade represents a 0.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ET. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. CNB Bank lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 111.1% during the 2nd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Energy Transfer in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 54.4% during the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,270 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the second quarter worth approximately $44,000. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of Energy Transfer stock opened at $16.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $56.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $16.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.10. Energy Transfer has a fifty-two week low of $14.60 and a fifty-two week high of $21.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 10.71% and a net margin of 5.66%.The company had revenue of $19.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Energy Transfer will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.3325 per share. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.33 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is 106.40%.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) is a Dallas-based midstream energy company that develops and operates infrastructure for the transportation, storage and processing of hydrocarbons. The company’s operations focus on moving and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined products through an integrated network of pipelines, terminals, storage facilities and processing plants. Energy Transfer provides core midstream services such as gathering, compression, fractionation, processing, and bulk transportation to support production and downstream supply chains.

Its asset base spans an extensive network across the United States, connecting producing regions, processing centers, petrochemical hubs and coastal and inland markets.