Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Price Target Cut to $23.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) had its target price reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $25.00 to $23.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.36.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

ET opened at $17.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $61.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $17.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.59. Energy Transfer has a 1 year low of $14.60 and a 1 year high of $21.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.28 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.74% and a return on equity of 11.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.3275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.28%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.9% during the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 75,353,994 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,400,831,000 after buying an additional 8,613,645 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,634,018 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $756,840,000 after purchasing an additional 5,254,721 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.6% in the first quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 38,205,495 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $710,240,000 after purchasing an additional 951,656 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 0.8% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 24,170,455 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $449,329,000 after purchasing an additional 182,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.0% in the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 23,120,066 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $429,802,000 after purchasing an additional 2,471,401 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.