Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,541,855 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 58,646 shares during the period. Energy Transfer accounts for 1.1% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $49,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,379,297 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $535,738,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,768 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its position in Energy Transfer by 7.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON increased 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 in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Energy Transfer by 36.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ET. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.55.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 1.2 %

ET stock opened at $18.67 on Wednesday. Energy Transfer LP has a twelve month low of $14.90 and a twelve month high of $21.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $64.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.58, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.23.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 5.74%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.96%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.56%.

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.