Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Price Target Raised to $21.00

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $19.00 to $21.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

ET has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Energy Transfer to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.40.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 0.9%

Energy Transfer stock opened at $18.58 on Tuesday. Energy Transfer has a twelve month low of $14.60 and a twelve month high of $19.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.63.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.09). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 10.17%. The company had revenue of $25.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Energy Transfer will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were given a $0.335 dividend. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.2%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 110.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 86,310,272 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,423,256,000 after acquiring an additional 25,366,594 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Energy Transfer by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 83,843,087 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,382,573,000 after purchasing an additional 6,192,066 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 57,862,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $992,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,773,042 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its position in Energy Transfer by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 38,675,828 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $637,764,000 after purchasing an additional 103,245 shares during the period. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 23,351,183 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $400,706,000 after purchasing an additional 326,653 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.