Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) Price Target Raised to $26.00

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $20.00 to $26.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 37.86% from the stock’s current price.

ET has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays raised 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. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.09.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Energy Transfer stock opened at $18.86 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $19.56 and a 200-day moving average of $18.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Energy Transfer has a 1 year low of $14.90 and a 1 year high of $21.45. The company has a market capitalization of $64.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 5.74%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Energy Transfer will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Energy Transfer

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 15.7% during the fourth 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 during the period. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 7.7% in 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 during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 5.9% in 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 during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $319,929,000 after buying an additional 2,512,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 388,073 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.