Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading 0.5% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) rose 0.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $18.00 to $19.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Energy Transfer traded as high as $16.40 and last traded at $16.33. Approximately 7,240,927 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 12,165,323 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.25.

ET has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group cut their target price on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective (up from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ET. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in Energy Transfer by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 73,666,501 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,033,541,000 after purchasing an additional 9,341,798 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 28,642,769 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $395,270,000 after acquiring an additional 3,368,427 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 25,621,485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $353,576,000 after acquiring an additional 7,097,074 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 25,423,547 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $350,845,000 after acquiring an additional 3,976,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Reserve GP XIII Ltd acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $322,097,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 1.7 %

The stock has a market cap of $53.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63 and a beta of 1.63. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.46.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $21.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.91 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.95%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is 115.60%.

About Energy Transfer

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.