Aviance Capital Partners LLC Invests $487,000 in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 26,177 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $487,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Energy Transfer by 93.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 24,530 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 11,844 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Energy Transfer by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 42,259 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $828,000 after buying an additional 2,184 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Energy Transfer by 401.7% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 8,760 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 7,014 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Energy Transfer by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 182,179 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,569,000 after buying an additional 7,811 shares during the period. Finally, Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its position in Energy Transfer by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 21,622 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 1,304 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

ET opened at $17.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $61.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79. Energy Transfer LP has a 52-week low of $14.60 and a 52-week high of $21.45. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $17.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.47.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.28 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.88% and a return on equity of 11.47%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.3275 dividend. 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 7.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on ET shares. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Energy Transfer

In other news, Director James Richard Perry sold 1,369 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.48, for a total value of $25,299.12. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 24,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $453,185.04. This trade represents a 5.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 3.28% of the company's stock.

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.

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