Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Receives $21.55 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.55.

ET has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 156,016 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,556,000 after purchasing an additional 17,080 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Energy Transfer during the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Energy Transfer during the third quarter valued at approximately $405,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the third quarter valued at approximately $375,000. Finally, Executive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the third quarter valued at approximately $263,000. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 3.0 %

ET opened at $18.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market cap of $64.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72. Energy Transfer has a twelve month low of $14.90 and a twelve month high of $21.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.17.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.74% and a return on equity of 11.56%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Energy Transfer will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.95%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.56%.

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.