Cullen Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Cullen Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 22.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 163,181 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 46,736 shares during the quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $3,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 86,310,272 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,423,256,000 after buying an additional 25,366,594 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 83,843,087 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,382,573,000 after buying an additional 6,192,066 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $61,760,000. SCS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 1,859.8% in the 2nd quarter. SCS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,942,908 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $37,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843,771 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 57,862,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $992,923,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773,042 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of ET opened at $21.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $20.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.45. Energy Transfer LP has a one year low of $16.18 and a one year high of $21.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.55.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.21. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 4.87%.The company had revenue of $34.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 target price (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Energy Transfer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target (up from $23.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.08.

Insider Activity

In other Energy Transfer news, Director Kelcy L. Warren acquired 647,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.26 per share, with a total value of $13,775,799.68. Following the purchase, the director owned 147,901,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,144,393,947.54. The trade was a 0.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James Richard Perry acquired 12,359 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $20.23 per share, with a total value of $250,022.57. Following the acquisition, the director owned 208,046 shares in the company, valued at $4,208,770.58. The trade was a 6.32% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders bought 1,012,359 shares of company stock worth $21,513,543. Insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

About Energy Transfer

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.