Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Up 0.4%

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) was up 0.4% on Monday . The company traded as high as $15.54 and last traded at $15.48. Approximately 2,838,474 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 12,168,867 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ET shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.57.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $50.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 1.64. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $15.10 and a 200 day moving average of $14.21.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.08. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. Energy Transfer’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.44 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 6th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Toth Financial Advisory Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 57.8% in the 1st quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 5,155 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 1,888 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 179,276 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,820,000 after purchasing an additional 23,804 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 329,835 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,188,000 after purchasing an additional 26,298 shares during the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 162,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,559,000 after purchasing an additional 2,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 549,971 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,651,000 after purchasing an additional 15,097 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.