Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Shares Up 0.1%

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 0.1% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $15.93 and last traded at $15.85. 2,250,206 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 12,243,907 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ET. Citigroup raised their price objective on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Energy Transfer presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.57.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $14.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.08. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. The business's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. This is a boost from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 112.9% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 146,943 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 77,938 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 230.9% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 736,634 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $10,335,000 after acquiring an additional 513,989 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 28,250 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. Fractal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 12.9% during the third quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 5,682,061 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $79,719,000 after acquiring an additional 647,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 22.5% during the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 421,372 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $5,912,000 after acquiring an additional 77,352 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently 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.