Farther Finance Advisors LLC Buys 3,539 Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,083 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,539 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ET. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2,138.5% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,746 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,668 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. United Community Bank purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 111.1% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ET. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective 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. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.55.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ET opened at $18.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $19.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.17. 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 LP has a 12-month low of $14.90 and a 12-month high of $21.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. 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.