Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Up 0.5% on Analyst Upgrade

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s stock price rose 0.5% on Thursday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $19.00 to $20.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Energy Transfer traded as high as $16.50 and last traded at $16.49. Approximately 2,798,664 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 13,091,479 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.40.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on ET. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 3,000,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $47,040,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 123,385,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,686,992. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 3,000,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $47,040,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 123,385,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,686,992. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gregory G. Mcilwain acquired 20,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $313,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 591,211 shares in the company, valued at $9,270,188.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders bought 3,040,000 shares of company stock valued at $47,667,200. Company insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 36,668,846 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $594,769,000 after purchasing an additional 4,141,715 shares in the last quarter. Natixis increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 18,020,559 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $283,463,000 after purchasing an additional 2,999,300 shares in the last quarter. Payden & Rygel Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 1st quarter worth about $20,164,000. Merewether Investment Management LP increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP now owns 6,591,793 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $106,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Progeny 3 Inc. increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 104.6% during the 1st quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 2,205,785 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,697,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127,500 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $55.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.94.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $20.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.01 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 12.74%. The company’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.43%.

About Energy Transfer

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.