Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Up 2.7% on Analyst Upgrade

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price was up 2.7% during mid-day trading on Monday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $20.21 and last traded at $20.1920. Approximately 9,974,820 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 14,130,306 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.66.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ET. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up from $22.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $23.45.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 60.0% in the fourth quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Navalign LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.55.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $27.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.78 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 9.77% and a net margin of 4.66%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.3375 per share. This represents a $1.35 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.50%.

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.