Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Energy Transfer LP has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with thirteen out of fourteen ratings firms recommending a buy.
• The average target price for Energy Transfer's stock is $22.67, with recent price targets from analysts ranging from $22.00 to $25.00.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.33, resulting in an 8.0% annual yield, despite a payout ratio of 102.33%.

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.6667.

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

ET stock opened at $16.44 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $56.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.38. Energy Transfer has a 52 week low of $14.60 and a 52 week high of $21.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The business had revenue of $19.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $24.07 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 11.08%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.0%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio is presently 102.33%.

Insider Transactions at Energy Transfer

In other Energy Transfer news, Director Kelcy L. Warren bought 1,350,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.36 per share, for a total transaction of $23,436,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 69,178,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,200,938,360.72. The trade was a 1.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $168,917,000. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.9% in 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. Commerce Bank acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the first quarter valued at approximately $92,607,000. Energy Income Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $429,802,000 after buying an additional 2,471,401 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,876,000. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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