Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.33 Per Share

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, January 27th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of 0.325 per share by the pipeline company on Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32.

Energy Transfer has raised its dividend payment by an average of 27.9% per year over the last three years. Energy Transfer has a dividend payout ratio of 82.2% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Equities research analysts expect Energy Transfer to earn $1.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.29 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 89.0%.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of ET stock traded up $0.55 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $20.36. The company had a trading volume of 21,930,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,129,697. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.70. Energy Transfer has a one year low of $13.79 and a one year high of $21.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $19.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.39.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. The business had revenue of $20.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.59 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 5.90%. Energy Transfer’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Energy Transfer will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ET has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Barclays raised their price objective on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.82.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

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.