Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock Price Down 1% - Time to Sell?

Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) traded down 1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $18.15 and last traded at $18.14. 4,421,876 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 15,568,424 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.32.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.64.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $61.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.55, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.47 and a 200 day moving average of $18.55.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 5.88%. The firm had revenue of $21.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. Energy Transfer's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a dividend of $0.3275 per share. This represents a $1.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.33%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Energy Transfer's payout ratio is presently 99.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Energy Transfer news, Director James Richard Perry sold 1,369 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.48, for a total transaction of $25,299.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $453,185.04. The trade was a 5.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 164.1% during the 4th quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60,566 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,186,000 after buying an additional 37,633 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 44.2% during the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 135,281 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,650,000 after buying an additional 41,438 shares during the last quarter. Greenland Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth about $2,253,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth about $597,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 12,090.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 12,455,613 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $244,005,000 after buying an additional 12,353,441 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.