Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Up 1.2% – Time to Buy?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price was up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $16.44 and last traded at $16.40. Approximately 22,516,626 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 51% from the average daily volume of 14,927,772 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.21.

Energy Transfer News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Energy Transfer this week:

• Positive Sentiment: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the Dakota Access pipeline should continue operating — reduces regulatory/operational risk for a major pipeline that supports fee-based cash flow. Energy Transfer: An 8.1% Yield, Undervalued And A Buy As Debt Fears Are Overdone
• Positive Sentiment: Energy Transfer is upsizing capacity on the Transwestern Desert Southwest expansion — implies higher contracted volumes and near?term revenue upside from incremental tariff income. Energy Transfer to Upsize Transwestern Pipeline’s Desert Southwest Expansion Project
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish commentaries argue ET is undervalued with an ~8% yield and stable fee-based EBITDA (claims of 20–39% upside by 2026) — supports income-focused investor demand and buy-side interest. Energy Transfer: An 8.1% Yield, Undervalued And A Buy As Debt Fears Are Overdone
• Neutral Sentiment: Longer-term performance pieces and dividend roundups highlight ET’s high yield and multi-year returns — may attract income investors but are less likely to move intraday momentum. If You Invested $100 In Energy Transfer Stock 5 Years Ago, You Would Have This Much Today
• Negative Sentiment: Energy Transfer announced it is suspending development of the Lake Charles LNG export project to reallocate capital to pipeline projects — reduces potential high-margin LNG upside and signals more conservative capital deployment, which some investors view as lost growth optionality. Energy Transfer suspends development of its Lake Charles LNG export project
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley downgraded ET to equal weight from overweight — analyst downgrade can reduce institutional demand and weigh on sentiment near-term. Energy Transfer LP downgraded to equal weight from overweight at Morgan Stanley
• Negative Sentiment: Critical analyst pieces highlight execution risks, EBITDA pressures and misconceptions — adds to cautious investor narratives and can pressure the multiple. Energy Transfer: A Stock With Many Problems And Misconceptions
• Negative Sentiment: Short-term market commentary notes a recent share dip and intraday weakness — reflects the aggregate effect of the negative items above and analyst caution. Energy Transfer LP (ET) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: Here’s Why

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ET. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Energy Transfer to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Energy Transfer presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.75.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 1.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $56.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $16.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.24.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.66% and a return on equity of 10.71%. The company had revenue of $19.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.3325 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.33 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.1%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 106.40%.

Insider Transactions at Energy Transfer

In other news, Director Kelcy L. Warren bought 1,000,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.95 per share, with a total value of $16,950,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 104,577,803 shares in the company, valued at $1,772,593,760.85. The trade was a 0.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ET. Chelsea Counsel Co. grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 370.3% during the second quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 94,050 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,705,000 after buying an additional 74,050 shares during the last quarter. Ariston Services Group lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 126.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ariston Services Group now owns 100,683 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 56,274 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 2nd quarter valued at about $930,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 275,698 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,125,000 after acquiring an additional 29,404 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Energy Transfer by 223.5% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,069,534 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $19,883,000 after acquiring an additional 738,885 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Energy Transfer

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.