Ryan Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Position in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,724 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 93.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 24,530 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 11,844 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Energy Transfer by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 389,075 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,622,000 after acquiring an additional 40,329 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 70.9% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $199,000 after acquiring an additional 4,203 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 64.6% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 58,293 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,142,000 after acquiring an additional 22,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Novem Group bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth about $613,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ET opened at $17.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.15. Energy Transfer LP has a 52 week low of $14.60 and a 52 week high of $21.45. The firm has a market cap of $59.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $17.54 and its 200-day moving average is $17.62.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The business had revenue of $19.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.07 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.08% and a net margin of 5.80%.Energy Transfer’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. Sell-side 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 Tuesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.6%. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is 102.33%.

Insider Activity at Energy Transfer

In related news, Director Kelcy L. Warren bought 1,350,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.36 per share, for a total transaction of $23,436,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 69,178,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,200,938,360.72. The trade was a 1.99% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ET. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $23.00 target price (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Scotiabank started coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cowen started coverage on Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.50.

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.