Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Sells 40,845 Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 255,527 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 40,845 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $5,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 346,825 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,567,000 after buying an additional 45,172 shares in the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter worth $1,297,000. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 7,586,598 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $148,621,000 after buying an additional 293,088 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 242,042 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,885,000 after buying an additional 57,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paragon Capital Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 435.5% in the 4th quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd now owns 68,724 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,346,000 after buying an additional 55,890 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of ET opened at $19.98 on Friday. Energy Transfer LP has a 1-year low of $14.09 and a 1-year high of $21.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.76 and a 200 day moving average of $17.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 12.38%. On average, research analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.51%. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 94.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ET. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.18.

About Energy Transfer

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.