Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Shares Up 1.6% After Analyst Upgrade

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price shot up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $20.00 to $22.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Energy Transfer traded as high as $19.46 and last traded at $19.23. 3,888,025 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 16,943,654 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.92.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on ET. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.55.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ET. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 12,090.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 12,455,613 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $244,005,000 after acquiring an additional 12,353,441 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,379,297 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $535,738,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,768 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth about $79,113,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 36.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,563,478 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $185,594,000 after purchasing an additional 3,106,631 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 45.9% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 9,581,762 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $153,787,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013,973 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $19.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market cap of $65.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.69.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 5.74%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.79%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 101.56%.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

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.