Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Price Target Raised to $20.00

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) had its price objective raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

ET has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Citigroup raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $19.29.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ET opened at $15.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Energy Transfer has a one year low of $12.46 and a one year high of $16.40. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $15.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.90. The company has a market capitalization of $53.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.63.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $21.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.91 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.317 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.06%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 116.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Granite Group Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 5.3% in the first quarter. Granite Group Advisors LLC now owns 16,223 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the first quarter worth about $1,039,000. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 75.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 493,991 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,770,000 after purchasing an additional 212,719 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 491.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,290,364 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $20,297,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072,144 shares during the period. Finally, Burney Co. grew its position in Energy Transfer by 288.1% during the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 63,046 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $992,000 after buying an additional 46,800 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.