Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $23.00 to $25.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Energy Transfer traded as high as $21.32 and last traded at $21.2340, with a volume of 1023319 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $20.94.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on ET. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Energy Transfer from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $24.00 target price (up from $23.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Energy Transfer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.08.

Insider Activity at Energy Transfer

In other Energy Transfer news, Director James Richard Perry bought 12,359 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.23 per share, with a total value of $250,022.57. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 208,046 shares in the company, valued at $4,208,770.58. This trade represents a 6.32% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 93.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 24,530 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 11,844 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 62.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,041 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 8,118 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Energy Transfer by 6.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 135,395 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,455,000 after purchasing an additional 7,901 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 436.5% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,179 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 50,919 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $923,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $73.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $19.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.21. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 4.87%.The business had revenue of $34.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. Energy Transfer’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is 92.52%.

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.