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Can Organic Asset Expansion Fuel Energy Transfer's Long-Term Growth?

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Key Takeaways

  • Energy Transfer plans to invest $5B in 2025 to expand its organic pipeline and storage infrastructure.
  • ET's focus on internal growth cuts regulatory risk and supports scalable, cost-effective expansion.
  • ET units trade at a discount with a 10.09X EV/EBITDA compared with the industry average of 11.43X.

Energy Transfer LP (ET - Free Report) is expanding its organic asset base to meet increasing pipeline and storage requirements across the United States. With demand increasing for pipeline capacity, natural gas transportation and export capabilities, the company is prioritizing the development and optimization of its existing infrastructure. This organic growth approach, rooted in leveraging its extensive network of pipelines and terminals, positions Energy Transfer for stable and scalable long-term expansion.

The firm is planning to invest nearly $5 billion in 2025 in growth capital projects to further expand its organic asset base. Permian Processing expansions, Nederland Flexport NGL expansion, Lone Star Express expansion and Nederland refrigerated storage expansion are a few of the planned projects of Energy Transfer.

By focusing on organic asset development, Energy Transfer ensures cost-effective execution with lower regulatory and integration risks compared with acquisitions. Expanding existing pipelines, constructing new connections within its system and investing in additional processing and storage facilities allow the firm to meet rising volumes from key producing regions like the Permian Basin.

The firm is also expanding export terminals to enhance its access to international markets while diversifying revenue streams. ET’s ability to scale operations organically also provides a buffer against market volatility and enhances system reliability.

Energy Transfer’s commitment to expanding organic assets supports strong cash flow generation and reinforces the strategy of delivering stable distributions, positioning it as a resilient long-term investment in the midstream sector.

How Organic Expansion Acts as a Tailwind for Midstream Firms?

Organic asset expansion allows midstream firms to increase throughput capacity, improve operational efficiency and generate stable, fee-based revenues. It reduces execution risk, supports scalable growth and strengthens long-term cash flow without the complexities of large-scale acquisitions.

Firms like Enterprise Products Partners (EPD - Free Report) and The Williams Companies (WMB - Free Report) have significantly benefited from organic asset expansion. Enterprise Products has enhanced its Gulf Coast footprint through pipeline and export terminal upgrades, boosting NGL and petrochemical volumes. Williams Companies has expanded its Transco pipeline system to meet growing natural gas demand, securing long-term contracts and driving consistent cash flow. These targeted expansions enable both firms to capitalize on infrastructure synergies and support steady distributable growth.

ET’s Price Performance

Units of Energy Transfer have risen 5.6% in the past year compared with the Zacks Oil and Gas - Production Pipeline - MLB industry’s growth of 3.3%.

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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) TTM is 10.09X compared with the industry average of 11.43X. This indicates that the firm is presently undervalued compared with its industry. 

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ET’s Earnings Estimates Moving Up

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Energy Transfer’s 2025 and 2026 earnings per unit indicates a year-over-year increase of 10.16% and 10.64%, respectively.

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ET’s Zacks Rank

Energy Transfer currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.


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