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

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ET. IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 74.6% in the fourth quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,456 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 4,467 shares in the last quarter. Mercuria Capital Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,734,000. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,774,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 182,783 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,581,000 after buying an additional 20,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 23,987,750 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $469,920,000 after buying an additional 1,723,683 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ET has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.55.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Energy Transfer stock opened at $18.72 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.17. Energy Transfer LP has a 52 week low of $14.90 and a 52 week 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.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its 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 5.74% and a return on equity of 11.56%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders 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 positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.95%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.56%.

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.