Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Stock

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) had its price target increased by Barclays from $18.00 to $22.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on ET. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America initiated coverage on Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.55.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 3.2 %

NYSE ET opened at $18.86 on Friday. Energy Transfer has a one year low of $13.60 and a one year high of $20.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.70.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The company had revenue of $20.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Energy Transfer will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.3225 per share. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. &PARTNERS grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 215.9% in the 2nd quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 32,011 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $519,000 after purchasing an additional 21,879 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in Energy Transfer by 567.9% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 12,290 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $199,000 after buying an additional 10,450 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Energy Transfer by 4.1% during the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 110,451 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,792,000 after buying an additional 4,326 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Energy Transfer by 2.4% in the second quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,705,983 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $27,671,000 after acquiring an additional 40,176 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Energy Transfer by 32.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 94,442 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,532,000 after acquiring an additional 23,079 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

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.