Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Makes New Investment in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,038,442 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,113,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ET. Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 34,320 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 130,202 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,551,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 135,647 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,657,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 160,678 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,148,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Platform Technology Partners grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 67,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,318,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 0.2%

ET stock opened at $17.99 on Tuesday. Energy Transfer LP has a one year low of $14.60 and a one year high of $21.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $17.47 and a 200-day moving average of $18.59.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.74% and a return on equity of 11.56%. The firm had revenue of $21.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.3275 dividend. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.28%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.36.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

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.