Energy Transfer LP $ET Shares Sold by Boston Partners

Boston Partners lessened its position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 44.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 197,526 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 160,389 shares during the period. Boston Partners’ holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $3,581,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. CNB Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 111.1% in the 2nd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Energy Transfer during the first quarter worth $38,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Energy Transfer during the first quarter worth $40,000. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of ET opened at $17.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Energy Transfer LP has a 1-year low of $14.60 and a 1-year high of $21.45. The stock has a market cap of $58.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.39.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 11.08%. The company had revenue of $19.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. Energy Transfer’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.3325 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.33 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.8%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kelcy L. Warren bought 1,350,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.36 per share, for a total transaction of $23,436,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 69,178,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,200,938,360.72. This trade represents a 1.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

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.