EP Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET – Get Rating) by 75.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,942 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 9,031 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 5,535 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 4,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 37.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

NYSE:ET opened at $11.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.10 billion, a PE ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 1.75. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $12.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Energy Transfer LP has a 12 month low of $9.15 and a 12 month high of $13.67.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 15th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $20.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.81 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 13.55% and a net margin of 5.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.305 per share. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 6th. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.18%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ET has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 9th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, December 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $16.43.

Insider Transactions at Energy Transfer

In other Energy Transfer news, Chairman Kelcy L. Warren bought 1,339,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $12.99 per share, for a total transaction of $17,398,780.02. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now owns 56,917,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $739,363,196.25. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

About Energy Transfer

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Energy Transfer LP provides natural gas pipeline transportation and transmission services. It operates through the following segments: Intrastate Transportation and Storage, Interstate Transportation and Storage, Midstream, NGL and Refined Products Transportation and Services, Crude Oil Transportation and Services, Investment in Sunoco LP, Investment in USAC, and All Other.