Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Bank of America

Bank of America started coverage on shares of Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) in a report published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $20.00 price target on the pipeline company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $20.00.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ET opened at $16.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Energy Transfer has a 12 month low of $12.90 and a 12 month high of $16.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $16.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.95.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.74% and a net margin of 5.19%. The business had revenue of $20.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Thomas E. Long bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $313,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,308,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,562,909.12. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Energy Transfer news, Director Kelcy L. Warren bought 3,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $47,040,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 123,385,650 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,686,992. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas E. Long acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.68 per share, for a total transaction of $313,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,308,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,562,909.12. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 3,040,000 shares of company stock worth $47,667,200. 3.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 4.3% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 56,366 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 76.2% during the 1st quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC now owns 83,102 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,307,000 after buying an additional 35,946 shares during the period. &PARTNERS acquired a new position in Energy Transfer in the first quarter valued at about $159,000. Paragon Capital Management Ltd boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd now owns 68,724 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 12,834 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 107,648 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,693,000 after acquiring an additional 7,707 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

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.