Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Down 0.2% - Should You Sell?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) dropped 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $17.87 and last traded at $17.93. Approximately 2,057,619 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 15,485,941 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ET shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.64.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The firm's 50 day moving average price is $17.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.59. The firm has a market cap of $62.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

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

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.3275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.23%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer's payout ratio is currently 99.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ET. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, United Community Bank bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 38.22% of the stock is 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.