Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Shares Up 0.2% – Still a Buy?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) shares shot up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $20.40 and last traded at $20.28. 14,533,663 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 27% from the average session volume of 11,469,590 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ET. Bank of America assumed coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Energy Transfer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.82.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 3.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.23. The company has a market cap of $71.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.36, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.70.

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

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.3225 dividend. This represents a $1.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.85%.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ET. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 44.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,379,297 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $535,738,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,768 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 1,491.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,175,731 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $67,020,000 after purchasing an additional 3,913,266 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,563,478 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $185,594,000 after purchasing an additional 3,106,631 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 45.9% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 9,581,762 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $153,787,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013,973 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 1,837.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,338,885 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $21,489,000 after buying an additional 1,269,778 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

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.