Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 0.3% during the first quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 219,232 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,231,000 after buying an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Capital Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Mountain Capital Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 12,007 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Marks Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Marks Wealth LLC now owns 12,560 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 23,978 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avos Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Avos Capital Management LLC now owns 76,695 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:ET opened at $20.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $69.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.55. Energy Transfer has a 12-month low of $16.18 and a 12-month high of $20.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $27.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.78 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 9.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 32.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Energy Transfer will post 1.43 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.3375 per share. This represents a $1.35 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.50%.

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.