Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Shares Down 1.6% – Time to Sell?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s share price fell 1.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $19.51 and last traded at $19.54. 4,550,324 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 13,678,034 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ET shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $20.00.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $67.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $16.99 and a 200 day moving average of $16.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The firm had revenue of $20.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.59 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The business’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.3225 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.59%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,379,297 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $535,738,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,768 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 36,668,846 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $594,769,000 after acquiring an additional 4,141,715 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 1,491.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,175,731 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $67,020,000 after acquiring an additional 3,913,266 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,563,478 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $185,594,000 after purchasing an additional 3,106,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 45.9% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 9,581,762 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $153,787,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013,973 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.