Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Shares Bought by Fortis Group Advisors LLC

Fortis Group Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,240 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,857 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ET. FMR LLC raised 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 worth $535,738,000 after buying an additional 10,195,768 shares in the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $308,319,000 after purchasing an additional 388,073 shares during the period. Brookfield Corp ON raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 13,139,924 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $210,896,000 after buying an additional 352,625 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 36.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,563,478 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $185,594,000 after buying an additional 3,106,631 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 45.9% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 9,581,762 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $153,787,000 after buying an additional 3,013,973 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on ET shares. 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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 target price on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.18.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:ET opened at $19.98 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $19.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $68.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.69. Energy Transfer LP has a fifty-two week low of $14.09 and a fifty-two week high of $21.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released 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 return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 5.90%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is 94.85%.

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.