Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Shares Bought by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,633,396 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 131,056 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $31,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,379,297 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $535,738,000 after acquiring an additional 10,195,768 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 23,987,750 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $469,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,683 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 2.5% during the fourth 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 increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 2.8% during the third 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 period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 36.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,563,478 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $185,594,000 after purchasing an additional 3,106,631 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

NYSE ET opened at $18.72 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $19.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Energy Transfer LP has a 1 year low of $14.90 and a 1 year high of $21.45. The company has a market capitalization of $64.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released 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 return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 5.74%. As a group, analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.325 per share. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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, February 12th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays upped 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.55.

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.