Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Shares Up 0.4% After Analyst Upgrade

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) shares were up 0.4% during trading on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $23.00 to $24.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Energy Transfer traded as high as $16.01 and last traded at $15.95. Approximately 2,602,304 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 12,221,995 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.89.

ET has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho reissued a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 price target (up from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $18.43.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 73,666,501 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,033,541,000 after buying an additional 9,341,798 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 28,642,769 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $395,270,000 after purchasing an additional 3,368,427 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 25,621,485 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $353,576,000 after acquiring an additional 7,097,074 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 25,423,547 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $350,845,000 after acquiring an additional 3,976,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Reserve GP XIII Ltd purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $322,097,000. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.35 billion, a PE ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $15.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.53.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.04). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The firm had revenue of $21.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Energy Transfer's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.01%. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio is 116.51%.

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.