Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading 0.8% Higher

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) shot up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $16.02 and last traded at $16.00. 2,083,597 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 13,353,572 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.29.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 0.6 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.66. 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 (NYSE:ET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). The business 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%. Energy Transfer’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.02%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is 117.43%.

Insider Activity

In other Energy Transfer news, CEO Thomas E. Long bought 20,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was acquired 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. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Thomas E. Long acquired 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was purchased 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 owns 4,308,859 shares in the company, valued at $67,562,909.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelcy L. Warren acquired 3,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $47,040,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 123,385,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,686,992. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 3,040,000 shares of company stock worth $47,667,200 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ET. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 133,559 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,843,000 after buying an additional 1,663 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter worth about $645,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter worth about $326,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 201.9% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 14,356 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 9,600 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter worth about $1,601,000. 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.