LPL Financial LLC Acquires 392,492 Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,118,880 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 392,492 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Energy Transfer worth $100,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter worth $1,297,000. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 4.0% in the fourth 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. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 164.1% during the fourth quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60,566 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after buying an additional 37,633 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 435.5% during the 4th quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd now owns 68,724 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after buying an additional 55,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FFG Partners LLC increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. FFG Partners LLC now owns 1,650,574 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $32,335,000 after acquiring an additional 13,948 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

ET opened at $18.87 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $19.54 and a 200 day moving average of $18.33. The stock has a market cap of $64.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Energy Transfer LP has a 52-week low of $14.90 and a 52-week high of $21.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.74% and a return on equity of 11.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.325 dividend. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ET. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.09.

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.