Vista Investment Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Vista Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 22.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,147 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 5,275 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 44.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,379,297 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $535,738,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,768 shares during the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 15,738,594 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $308,319,000 after purchasing an additional 388,073 shares during the period. Brookfield Corp ON grew its position in Energy Transfer by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 13,139,924 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $210,896,000 after purchasing an additional 352,625 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 36.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,563,478 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $185,594,000 after purchasing an additional 3,106,631 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 45.9% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 9,581,762 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $153,787,000 after buying an additional 3,013,973 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of ET stock opened at $20.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.34. Energy Transfer LP has a twelve month low of $13.79 and a twelve month high of $21.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The business had revenue of $20.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.59 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.3225 per share. This represents a $1.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ET. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.82.

Energy Transfer 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.