Analysts Set Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Target Price at $20.55

Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.55.

Several research firms recently commented on ET. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FFG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 3.3% during the third quarter. FFG Partners LLC now owns 1,636,626 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,268,000 after buying an additional 52,302 shares in the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,207,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 15,675 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 69.8% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 84,530 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,357,000 after acquiring an additional 34,749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.2% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 101,738 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of ET stock opened at $19.28 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.70. Energy Transfer has a one year low of $13.60 and a one year high of $20.02. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.78.

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

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.3225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.69%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.85%.

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.