Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC Buys Shares of 40,000 Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 40,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $784,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,634,018 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $756,840,000 after acquiring an additional 5,254,721 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 worth $469,920,000 after buying an additional 1,723,683 shares in the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Energy Transfer by 2.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 388,073 shares during the last quarter. Natixis lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 14,619,124 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $286,389,000 after purchasing an additional 962,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 12,090.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 12,455,613 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $244,005,000 after purchasing an additional 12,353,441 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE ET traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $16.19. 18,909,361 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,382,876. The company has a market cap of $55.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.32. Energy Transfer LP has a twelve month low of $14.60 and a twelve month high of $21.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $17.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.51.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.3275 per share. This is an increase from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ET shares. 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. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.09.

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.