Advisors Asset Management Inc. Raises Position in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Energy Transfer LP by 10.8%, acquiring an additional 35,473 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 365,332 shares valued at approximately $6.79 million.
• The company's recent earnings report showed earnings per share of $0.32, meeting analysts' expectations, but revenue declined by 7.2% year-over-year.
• Energy Transfer declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33, with an annualized yield of 7.5%, even though its payout ratio stands at 102.33%.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 10.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 365,332 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 35,473 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $6,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ET. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 93.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 24,530 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 11,844 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 389,075 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,622,000 after purchasing an additional 40,329 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth $223,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth $2,183,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,396,837 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $27,364,000 after purchasing an additional 69,643 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.54.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of ET stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $17.41. The stock had a trading volume of 12,069,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,490,927. Energy Transfer LP has a 52-week low of $14.60 and a 52-week high of $21.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $17.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.85.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 11.08%. The company had revenue of $19.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $24.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. Energy Transfer's quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is an increase from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio is presently 102.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James Richard Perry sold 1,369 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.48, for a total transaction of $25,299.12. Following the sale, the director owned 24,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $453,185.04. The trade was a 5.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kelcy L. Warren acquired 1,350,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.36 per share, for a total transaction of $23,436,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 69,178,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,200,938,360.72. This trade represents a 1.99% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.