Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Shares Down 0.6% – Should You Sell?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price fell 0.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $18.22 and last traded at $18.61. 4,306,615 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 14,551,229 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.71.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ET. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.09.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $19.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.39.

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

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.325 dividend. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,634,018 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $756,840,000 after acquiring an additional 5,254,721 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 23,987,750 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $469,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,683 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,776,221 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $387,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093,381 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Energy Transfer by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,331,220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $319,929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,512,060 shares during the period. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its position in Energy Transfer by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 15,738,594 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $308,319,000 after purchasing an additional 388,073 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

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.