Blackhill Capital Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Key Points

• Blackhill Capital boosted its Energy Transfer LP stake by 65.7% in the fourth quarter, adding 460,000 shares to bring its total to 1.16 million shares worth about $19.1 million.
• Energy Transfer reported mixed quarterly results: revenue came in above expectations at $27.77 billion, but EPS of $0.35 missed analyst estimates of $0.40.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.3375 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 7.1%, while analysts currently maintain a Buy consensus with a target price of $23.45.

Blackhill Capital Inc. raised its holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 65.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,160,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 460,000 shares during the quarter. Energy Transfer makes up 1.0% of Blackhill Capital Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Blackhill Capital Inc.'s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $19,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Energy Transfer by 41.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 86,310,272 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,423,256,000 after acquiring an additional 25,366,594 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in Energy Transfer by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 83,843,087 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,382,573,000 after acquiring an additional 6,192,066 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Energy Transfer by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 57,862,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $992,923,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773,042 shares during the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC grew its position in Energy Transfer by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 23,351,183 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $400,706,000 after acquiring an additional 326,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Energy Transfer by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,898,420 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $375,777,000 after acquiring an additional 544,944 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

ET opened at $19.06 on Friday. Energy Transfer LP has a 12-month low of $16.18 and a 12-month high of $20.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $19.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.34. The company has a market capitalization of $65.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.88, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.55.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.05). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 9.77% and a net margin of 4.66%.The firm had revenue of $27.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. Energy Transfer's quarterly revenue was up 32.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.3375 per share. This represents a $1.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Energy Transfer from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $23.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and set a $23.00 price target (up from $22.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.45.

Energy Transfer Profile

Energy Transfer NYSE: ET is a Dallas-based midstream energy company that develops and operates infrastructure for the transportation, storage and processing of hydrocarbons. The company's operations focus on moving and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined products through an integrated network of pipelines, terminals, storage facilities and processing plants. Energy Transfer provides core midstream services such as gathering, compression, fractionation, processing, and bulk transportation to support production and downstream supply chains.

Its asset base spans an extensive network across the United States, connecting producing regions, processing centers, petrochemical hubs and coastal and inland markets.

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