ET Stock Outpaces Its Industry in the Past Month: Time to Buy or Hold?

Units of Energy Transfer LP ET have rallied 6.4% in the past month compared with the Zacks Oil and Gas - Production Pipeline - MLB industry’s growth of 4.1% and the Zacks Oil-Energy sector’s rally of 5.8%. This oil and gas midstream firm owns a wide network of pipelines across the United States and is pursuing opportunities to serve growing power loads from new demand centers across its network.

The oil and gas midstream firm benefits from the fee-based contracts with its customers. The firm is also a top exporter of liquefied petroleum gas and working to expand natural gas liquids export facilities to cater to the rising demand globally.

Price Performance (One month)

Another firm having extensive midstream operations in the United States is Plains All American Pipeline PAA. This firm also earns a major share of its revenues from fee-based contracts with customers. In the past month, the firm gained 9.8%, outperforming its industry and sector.

Energy Transfer has been trading below its 50 and 200-day simple moving average (“SMA”), signaling a short-term bearish trend.
 
The 50 and 200-day SMAs are key indicators for traders and analysts to identify support and resistance levels. It is considered particularly important as this is the first marker of an uptrend or downtrend.

ET’s 50 Day and 200 Day SMA

Should you consider adding Energy Transfer to your portfolio solely on positive price movements? Let’s delve deeper and find out the factors that can help investors decide whether it is a good entry point to add ET stock to their portfolio.

Factors Contributing to ET Stock’s Performance

Energy Transfer operates more than 140,000 miles of pipelines and related infrastructure across 44 U.S. states. Its diversified asset portfolio provides stable earnings support, with oil and gas pipelines, gathering and processing, and storage facilities strategically positioned across key domestic basins and high-growth demand markets. For 2026, the firm expects its total growth capital expenditures to be nearly $5.0-$5.5 billion, which will further strengthen the operation.

The firm is expanding its operations through organic methods and the expansion of existing pipelines. Energy Transfer announced the 1.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) expansion to Transwestern Pipeline. This Desert Southwest expansion project will include a 516-mile, 42-inch natural gas pipeline that will connect the Permian Basin with markets in Arizona and New Mexico. Mustang Draw Processing Plant and Mustang Draw II Processing Plant are expected to come online in 2026 and add a total of 525 million cubic feet per day  (MMcf/d) processing capacity. The firm is also working on Bethel Storage Expansion and a new storage cavern at Bethel natural gas storage facility is likely to double working gas storage capacity to more than 12 Bcf. This new capacity will be available from late 2028.

Energy Transfer is well-positioned to capitalize on rising U.S. natural gas demand through its extensive intrastate and interstate storage network. Strategically located along major demand corridors, these assets provide flexibility and reliability while helping manage seasonal and peak demand. Ongoing and planned storage expansions further enhance ET’s role as a key balancing player in U.S. gas markets, supporting long-term earnings stability and growth.

Energy Transfer derives substantial benefits from its heavy reliance on fee-based contracts across the diversified asset base, with nearly 90% of earnings generated from these arrangements. This revenue model significantly reduces exposure to commodity price fluctuations, allowing the firm to maintain stable and predictable earnings even during periods of market volatility.

ET’s Estimates Moving North

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Energy Transfer’s 2026 earnings per unit indicates year-over-year growth of 16.76% on 26.64% year-over-year increase in sales estimates.

ET’s Sales Estimate

ET’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth is pegged at 12.45%.

ET’s EPU Estimates

Another firm operating in the same space, Enterprise Products Partners EPD, also registered a year-over-year increase in earnings and sales estimates. The 2026 earnings estimate of EPD indicates an increase of 8.72% on 2.79% year-over-year rise in revenues.

ET Shares More With Unitholders

ET’s current quarterly cash distribution rate is 33.25 cents per its common unit. Management has raised distribution rates 16 times in the past five years, and the current yield is 7.7% better than its industry’s yield of 6.08%.

Plains All American Pipeline and Enterprise Products Partners have raised cash distribution rates by five times and 10 times, respectively, in the past five years. The current yield of PAA and EPD is pegged at 7.84% and 6.63%, respectively.

ET’s Units Are Trading at a Discount

Energy Transfer units are somewhat inexpensive relative to the industry. ET’s current trailing 12-month Enterprise Value/Earnings before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortization (EV/EBITDA) is 9.15X compared with the industry average of 10.76X. This indicates that the firm is presently undervalued compared with its industry.
 

ET Stock’s ROE Is Lower Than the Industry

Energy Transfer’s trailing 12-month return on equity (“ROE”) is 10.71%, lower than the industry’s 13.28%. ROE, a profitability measure, reflects how effectively a company utilizes its shareholders’ funds to generate income.

Wrapping Up

Energy Transfer enjoys the benefit of its spread-out infrastructure in the key producing region of the United States. The expansion and addition to the firm’s existing assets further strengthen its position in the midstream operation as hydrocarbon production continues to increase in the United States.

Investors holding this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock can consider maintaining their positions and benefit from its steady cash distributions. ET’s fee-based contracts also provide a surety in its earnings and safeguard the stock from fluctuating commodity prices. Since the firm’s ROE is lower than the industry average, it will be better for the new investors to wait a little longer and find a better entry point.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research