Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Raises Dividend to $0.33 Per Share

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.3275 per share by the pipeline company on Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $1.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This is a 0.8% increase from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33.

Energy Transfer has increased its dividend payment by an average of 27.9% annually over the last three years. Energy Transfer has a dividend payout ratio of 85.1% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company's earnings fall. Equities research analysts expect Energy Transfer to earn $1.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.31 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 86.2%.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 1.0 %

Energy Transfer stock traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $17.27. 11,008,284 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,263,063. Energy Transfer has a 52 week low of $14.60 and a 52 week high of $21.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.50.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.74% and a return on equity of 11.56%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Energy Transfer stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 93.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,530 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,844 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ET. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Energy Transfer currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.09.

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.