Stifel Nicolaus Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET)

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $25.00 price objective on the pipeline company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price indicates a potential upside of 15.23% from the company’s current price.

ET has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen raised Energy Transfer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price target (up from $24.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, August 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price (up from $23.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $24.17.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 0.9%

ET stock opened at $21.70 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $20.61 and its 200 day moving average is $19.70. The stock has a market cap of $74.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. Energy Transfer has a 1-year low of $16.18 and a 1-year high of $21.77.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $34.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.71 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 4.87%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Energy Transfer will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Energy Transfer

In related news, Director James Perry acquired 12,359 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.23 per share, with a total value of $250,022.57. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 208,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,208,770.58. This represents a 6.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelcy L. Warren acquired 647,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $21.26 per share, with a total value of $13,775,799.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 147,901,879 shares in the company, valued at $3,144,393,947.54. This trade represents a 0.44% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 1,012,359 shares of company stock valued at $21,513,543. Corporate insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the second quarter worth $25,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

About Energy Transfer

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE: ET) is a diversified midstream energy partnership that owns and operates infrastructure used to transport, store, process and market energy commodities. Its assets support the movement of natural gas, crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), refined products and other hydrocarbon-based materials.

The company’s operations include natural gas gathering and processing, interstate and intrastate pipeline transportation, NGL fractionation and storage, crude oil and refined products transportation, and terminal services.