Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Trading Down 1.3% - Time to Sell?

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) fell 1.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $19.77 and last traded at $19.87. 3,668,363 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 16,517,305 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ET. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $21.18.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $66.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $19.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.87.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.74% and a return on equity of 11.56%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.70%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio is currently 101.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ET. FMR LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,634,018 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $756,840,000 after purchasing an additional 5,254,721 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its position in Energy Transfer by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 23,987,750 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $469,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,683 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Energy Transfer by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,776,221 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $387,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093,381 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in Energy Transfer by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,331,220 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $319,929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,512,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 15,738,594 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $308,319,000 after purchasing an additional 388,073 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.