Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Down 1.1% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Shares traded down about 1.1% to roughly $19.97 on Friday with volume slightly below average; the stock sits above its 50‑ and 200‑day moving averages ($18.99 and $17.73) and has a market cap near $68.7B.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive — MarketBeat shows a "Moderate Buy" consensus and a consensus target of $21.60, with several recent upgrades and bullish commentary projecting further upside into 2026.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.3375 (annualized $1.35, 6.8% yield), but the payout ratio is high (111.6%) and investors face downside risk from a U.S. natural gas glut that could pressure volumes and margins.

Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) traded down 1.1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $19.81 and last traded at $19.9650. 15,207,730 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 6% from the average session volume of 16,102,599 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.19.

Energy Transfer News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Energy Transfer this week:

• Positive Sentiment: US Capital Advisors raised multiple 2026–2027 EPS estimates for ET, lifting quarterly and full-year forecasts — a direct fundamental upgrade that supports higher earnings expectations and dividend sustainability.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/bull commentary predicts further upside for ET (a published piece argues ET could reach $25 in 2026), which can boost investor sentiment and attract momentum buying. Prediction: Energy Transfer Will Hit $25 in 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Energy Transfer appointed Jim S. Holotik to the USA Compression general partner board, strengthening governance ties with a related business and potentially smoothing coordination on compression/operations projects. USA Compression Adds Independent Director to General Partner Board
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks / Yahoo industry pieces note conservative upstream capex is adding uncertainty for pipeline MLPs, but they list ET among survivors — this suggests resilience but also that growth could be muted until upstream activity recovers. 3 Oil Pipeline MLP Stocks to Gain Despite Industry Challenges
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage note: a recent analyst update nudged ET’s fair value slightly higher (to ~$22.26) and highlighted mixed target moves — this creates a modest tailwind but keeps some investors cautious about near-term upside. How The Investment Story For Energy Transfer (ET) Is Shifting With New Analyst Signals
• Neutral Sentiment: Quarterly preview coverage is reminding investors to watch Q1 metrics (volumes, fee-based revenue and project execution) that will determine whether upgraded estimates hold. Energy Transfer LP (ET) Q1 Earnings on the Horizon: Analysts' Insights on Key Performance Measures
• Negative Sentiment: Macro headwind — Reuters reports a U.S. natural gas glut while Europe/Asia scramble for LNG; domestic oversupply can force lower gas prices and takeaway constraints in some basins, a direct negative for pipeline throughput, volumes and margin recovery. While Asia and Europe scramble for natural gas, the US glut has nowhere to go

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $22.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $21.60.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The stock's fifty day moving average is $18.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $25.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.56 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 10.17%. Energy Transfer's revenue for the quarter was up 29.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.3375 per share. This represents a $1.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 111.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 86,310,272 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,423,256,000 after purchasing an additional 25,366,594 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 8.0% during the 4th 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. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 57,862,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $992,923,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773,042 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 38,675,828 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $637,764,000 after acquiring an additional 103,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 23,351,183 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $400,706,000 after acquiring an additional 326,653 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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