Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.60.

ET has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price target (down from $25.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Energy Transfer to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday, February 18th.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

NYSE ET opened at $18.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.32. The company has a market cap of $64.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.63. Energy Transfer has a 1-year low of $14.60 and a 1-year high of $19.30.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $25.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.56 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 10.17% and a net margin of 5.11%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were given a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.2%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 110.74%.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ET. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 86,310,272 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,423,256,000 after acquiring an additional 25,366,594 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 6,192,066 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 57,862,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $992,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,773,042 shares during the period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its position in Energy Transfer by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 38,675,828 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $637,764,000 after purchasing an additional 103,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 1.4% during the third quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 23,351,183 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $400,706,000 after purchasing an additional 326,653 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Energy Transfer

Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) is a Dallas-based midstream energy company that develops and operates infrastructure for the transportation, storage and processing of hydrocarbons. The company’s operations focus on moving and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined products through an integrated network of pipelines, terminals, storage facilities and processing plants. Energy Transfer provides core midstream services such as gathering, compression, fractionation, processing, and bulk transportation to support production and downstream supply chains.

Its asset base spans an extensive network across the United States, connecting producing regions, processing centers, petrochemical hubs and coastal and inland markets.