Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading 1.6% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) was up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $16.57 and last traded at $16.5120. Approximately 17,307,512 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 10% from the average daily volume of 15,720,444 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ET. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Energy Transfer to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.75.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $16.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.10. 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 capitalization of $58.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were given a $0.3325 dividend. This represents a $1.33 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.8%. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 106.40%.

Insider Transactions at Energy Transfer

In other news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 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 transaction, the director owned 104,577,803 shares in the company, valued at $1,772,593,760.85. This trade represents a 0.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer during the third quarter valued at about $264,309,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the second quarter worth approximately $168,917,000. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 4.5% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 77,651,021 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,332,492,000 after acquiring an additional 3,366,734 shares in the last quarter. Northside Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,231,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,353,476 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $387,139,000 after acquiring an additional 1,825,391 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

About Energy Transfer

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.