PFG Investments LLC Increases Stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

PFG Investments LLC grew its stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,567 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,854 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ET. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 112.9% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 146,943 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 77,938 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Energy Transfer by 230.9% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 736,634 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,335,000 after buying an additional 513,989 shares in the last quarter. Fractal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.9% in the third quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 5,682,061 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $79,719,000 after acquiring an additional 647,885 shares during the period. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 421,372 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,912,000 after acquiring an additional 77,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,936,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ET. UBS Group reduced their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup upped their target price on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.57.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Energy Transfer stock opened at $15.54 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Energy Transfer LP has a twelve month low of $11.79 and a twelve month high of $15.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.36 billion, a PE ratio of 14.26 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $14.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.01.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.08. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. The business had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.11%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.60%.

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.