Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Up 2.8% – Time to Buy?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s share price shot up 2.8% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $19.97 and last traded at $19.7950. Approximately 9,254,710 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 14,325,006 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $23.45.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $68.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.47, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.55.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.05). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 9.77% and a net margin of 4.66%.The business had revenue of $27.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.78 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 32.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.3375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is 112.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ET. Texas Yale Capital Corp. raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 1,311,965 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $21,634,000 after buying an additional 75,700 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its position in Energy Transfer by 100.1% during the 4th quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 161,523 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,664,000 after acquiring an additional 80,786 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 436.6% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 90,160 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after acquiring an additional 73,359 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,898,420 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $375,777,000 after buying an additional 544,944 shares during the period. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,560,110 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $25,726,000 after purchasing an additional 129,489 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

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.