Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Energy Transfer reached a new 52-week high of $21.32 after Morgan Stanley raised its price target from $23 to $25, while maintaining an equal-weight rating. Analysts overall assign the stock a “Moderate Buy” rating with an average target of $24.08.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting earnings of $0.59 per share versus the $0.38 consensus estimate and revenue of $34.33 billion, up 78.4% year over year.
• Energy Transfer declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, equivalent to a 6.4% annualized yield. Director James Richard Perry also purchased roughly $250,000 of company stock, while institutional investors own 38.22% of shares.

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $23.00 to $25.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Energy Transfer traded as high as $21.32 and last traded at $21.2340, with a volume of 1023319 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.94.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and issued a $25.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $23.00 target price (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $24.00 price target (up from $23.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Energy Transfer

In other news, Director James Richard Perry bought 12,359 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.23 per share, for a total transaction of $250,022.57. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 208,046 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,208,770.58. The trade was a 6.32% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.28% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 86,310,272 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,423,256,000 after acquiring an additional 25,366,594 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 83,843,087 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,382,573,000 after acquiring an additional 6,192,066 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 1st quarter valued at about $61,760,000. SCS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 1,859.8% during the second quarter. SCS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,942,908 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $37,148,000 after buying an additional 1,843,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 57,862,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $992,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,773,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 1.6%

The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $19.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.55.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $34.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $27.71 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 4.87%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 78.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. Energy Transfer's payout ratio is 92.52%.

About Energy Transfer

Energy Transfer NYSE: ET is a Dallas-based midstream energy company that develops and operates infrastructure for the transportation, storage and processing of hydrocarbons. The company's operations focus on moving and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined products through an integrated network of pipelines, terminals, storage facilities and processing plants. Energy Transfer provides core midstream services such as gathering, compression, fractionation, processing, and bulk transportation to support production and downstream supply chains.

Its asset base spans an extensive network across the United States, connecting producing regions, processing centers, petrochemical hubs and coastal and inland markets.

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