Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Down 2.3% – Should You Sell?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) was down 2.3% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $19.54 and last traded at $19.60. Approximately 13,961,014 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 12% from the average daily volume of 15,939,971 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ET shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Energy Transfer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up from $22.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $23.45.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $66.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a fifty day moving average of $19.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.15.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $27.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.78 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 9.77%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 32.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.35 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.0%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.50%.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 219,232 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,231,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Mountain Capital Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Mountain Capital Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 12,007 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Marks Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Marks Wealth LLC now owns 12,560 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 23,978 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avos Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Avos Capital Management LLC now owns 76,695 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

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.