Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Down 1.9% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) were down 1.9% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $20.40 and last traded at $20.5020. 10,043,792 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the average daily volume of 12,646,315 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.36.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 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 (NYSE:ET) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $34.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.71 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.87% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 78.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.6%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Energy Transfer news, Director Kelcy L. Warren acquired 647,968 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.26 per share, for a total transaction of $13,775,799.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 147,901,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,144,393,947.54. This trade represents a 0.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James Perry purchased 12,359 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.23 per share, with a total value of $250,022.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 208,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,208,770.58. The trade was a 6.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 1,012,359 shares of company stock worth $21,513,543. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 83,843,087 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,382,573,000 after purchasing an additional 6,192,066 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 30,956,358 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $597,458,000 after acquiring an additional 1,656,609 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 25,654,536 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $490,515,000 after acquiring an additional 447,081 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,014,994 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $214,617,000 after acquiring an additional 374,000 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 7,696,319 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $126,912,000 after acquiring an additional 235,863 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

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.