Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Down 0.1% – Should You Sell?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)’s share price dropped 0.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $18.82 and last traded at $18.93. Approximately 2,604,481 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 14,459,014 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.94.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ET has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.55.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 0.4 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.23. The company has a market cap of $64.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 5.74%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.89%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 101.56%.

Institutional Trading of Energy Transfer

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,634,018 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $756,840,000 after acquiring an additional 5,254,721 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP grew its position in Energy Transfer by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 23,987,750 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $469,920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723,683 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Energy Transfer by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,776,221 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $387,416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093,381 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in Energy Transfer by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,331,220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $319,929,000 after acquiring an additional 2,512,060 shares during the period. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its position in Energy Transfer by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 15,738,594 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $308,319,000 after acquiring an additional 388,073 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

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.