LPL Financial LLC Increases Stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,118,880 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 392,492 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $100,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ET. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 44.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,379,297 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $535,738,000 after acquiring an additional 10,195,768 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,723,683 shares during the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 15,738,594 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $308,319,000 after purchasing an additional 388,073 shares in the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.8% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 13,139,924 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $210,896,000 after buying an additional 352,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 36.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of ET opened at $18.87 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $64.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72. Energy Transfer LP has a one year low of $14.90 and a one year high of $21.45.

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

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on ET shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their price target on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.09.

Energy Transfer Company 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.