Ashford Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Ashford Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 248,203 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $4,862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Talisman Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 56.4% in the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 383,164 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,506,000 after purchasing an additional 138,231 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter valued at $79,113,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,331,220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $319,929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,512,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wexford Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Wexford Capital LP now owns 579,425 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,410 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 0.2%

ET stock opened at $17.99 on Tuesday. The company 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. Energy Transfer LP has a one year low of $14.60 and a one year high of $21.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $17.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.59.

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

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ET shares. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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 raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.