Directional Asset Management Acquires Shares of 80,500 Energy Transfer LP $ET

Directional Asset Management acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 80,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,327,000. Energy Transfer makes up about 1.2% of Directional Asset Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Energy Transfer in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Core Alternative Capital purchased a new position in Energy Transfer in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 38.9% in the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 196.4% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 2,964 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,964 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ET. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.60.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of Energy Transfer stock opened at $19.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $65.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.22. Energy Transfer LP has a 1 year low of $15.80 and a 1 year high of $19.85.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $25.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.56 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 10.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a $0.335 dividend. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.0%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 110.74%.

Energy Transfer Profile

Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) is a Dallas-based midstream energy company that develops and operates infrastructure for the transportation, storage and processing of hydrocarbons. The company’s operations focus on moving and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined products through an integrated network of pipelines, terminals, storage facilities and processing plants. Energy Transfer provides core midstream services such as gathering, compression, fractionation, processing, and bulk transportation to support production and downstream supply chains.

Its asset base spans an extensive network across the United States, connecting producing regions, processing centers, petrochemical hubs and coastal and inland markets.