Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Down 1% - Here's What Happened

Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) were down 1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $17.33 and last traded at $17.50. Approximately 2,183,683 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 15,397,524 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ET has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.64.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $59.99 billion, a PE ratio of 13.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.3275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.49%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio is currently 99.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 93.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 24,530 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 11,844 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Energy Transfer by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,128 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 2,345 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,119,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,287,145 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $64,855,000 after acquiring an additional 66,856 shares during the period. Finally, SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company's stock.

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.