Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Up 0.5%

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) shot up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $15.97 and last traded at $15.86. 3,362,409 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 12,120,289 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.78.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on ET. UBS Group dropped their target price on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (up from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.00.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 1.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $15.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.38.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.46 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.317 dividend. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.60%.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 112.9% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 146,943 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 77,938 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 230.9% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 736,634 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,335,000 after acquiring an additional 513,989 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 28,250 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Fractal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 5,682,061 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $79,719,000 after purchasing an additional 647,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 22.5% during the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 421,372 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,912,000 after purchasing an additional 77,352 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.