Zacks Research Upgrades Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) to Strong-Buy

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) from hold to strong-buy, reinforcing a more bullish analyst view on the pipeline company.
• Overall analyst sentiment remains positive, with 3 Strong Buy ratings, 11 Buy ratings and just 1 Hold; the consensus price target is $23.45 versus the stock’s recent price around $20.07.
• Energy Transfer recently reported mixed quarterly results: revenue beat expectations at $27.77 billion, but EPS of $0.35 missed the $0.40 estimate. The company also has significant institutional ownership, with hedge funds and other investors holding 38.22% of shares.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up from $22.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $23.45.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Energy Transfer stock opened at $20.07 on Monday. Energy Transfer has a 12-month low of $16.18 and a 12-month high of $20.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.55.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $27.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.78 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 9.77% and a net margin of 4.66%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 32.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer will post 1.43 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Texas Yale Capital Corp. increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 1,311,965 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $21,634,000 after buying an additional 75,700 shares in the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 100.1% during the fourth quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 161,523 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,664,000 after acquiring an additional 80,786 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 179.0% during the first quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 162,100 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,129,000 after acquiring an additional 104,000 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 436.6% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 90,160 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,487,000 after acquiring an additional 73,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,560,110 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $25,726,000 after acquiring an additional 129,489 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company's stock.

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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