Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at Melius Research

Key Points

• Melius Research initiated coverage of Energy Transfer with a “hold” rating and a $25 price target, implying approximately 19.6% upside from the stock’s $20.90 opening price.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “moderate buy” rating and an average price target of $24.23. Energy Transfer recently beat quarterly earnings estimates, reporting $0.59 EPS versus the $0.38 consensus and 78.4% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Company insiders purchased more than 1 million shares worth approximately $21.5 million during the last quarter, while institutional investors own 38.22% of the company.

Equities research analysts at Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage set a "hold" rating and a $25.00 price target on the pipeline company's stock. Melius Research's price objective suggests a potential upside of 19.62% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on ET. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Zacks Research lowered Energy Transfer from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 target price (up from $23.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.23.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of Energy Transfer stock opened at $20.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.57. Energy Transfer has a one year low of $16.18 and a one year high of $21.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $20.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.84.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.21. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.87% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The company had revenue of $34.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 78.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Energy Transfer will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Energy Transfer news, Director James Perry purchased 12,359 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.23 per share, for a total transaction of $250,022.57. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 208,046 shares in the company, valued at $4,208,770.58. The trade was a 6.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kelcy L. Warren acquired 647,968 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.26 per share, for a total transaction of $13,775,799.68. Following the acquisition, the director owned 147,901,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,144,393,947.54. This trade represents a 0.44% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired a total of 1,012,359 shares of company stock worth $21,513,543 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.28% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ET. Texas Yale Capital Corp. raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 1,311,965 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $21,634,000 after purchasing an additional 75,700 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 179.0% during the first quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 162,100 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,129,000 after purchasing an additional 104,000 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 39.0% during the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 224,439 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $4,332,000 after purchasing an additional 62,916 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer in the first quarter worth about $61,760,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 15.8% in the first quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 1,888,661 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $36,451,000 after buying an additional 257,954 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company's stock.

About Energy Transfer

Energy Transfer LP NYSE: ET is a diversified midstream energy partnership that owns and operates infrastructure used to transport, store, process and market energy commodities. Its assets support the movement of natural gas, crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), refined products and other hydrocarbon-based materials.

The company's operations include natural gas gathering and processing, interstate and intrastate pipeline transportation, NGL fractionation and storage, crude oil and refined products transportation, and terminal services.

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