Callodine Capital Management LP Reduces Holdings in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Key Points

• Callodine Capital Management LP reduced its stake in Energy Transfer LP by 22.4%, now holding 660,000 shares valued at $12.27 million, making it the firm's 18th largest position.
• Energy Transfer reported a net margin of 5.80% and earnings of $0.32 per share, meeting analysts' estimates, while revenue dropped by 7.2% year-over-year to $19.24 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 7.5%, with a high dividend payout ratio of 102.33%.

Callodine Capital Management LP trimmed its holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 22.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 660,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 190,000 shares during the quarter. Energy Transfer accounts for approximately 2.0% of Callodine Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Callodine Capital Management LP's holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $12,269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 12.9% in the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 75,353,994 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,400,831,000 after purchasing an additional 8,613,645 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 2.6% in the first quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 38,205,495 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $710,240,000 after purchasing an additional 951,656 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 0.8% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 24,170,455 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $449,329,000 after purchasing an additional 182,705 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,776,221 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $387,416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093,381 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.8% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,787,080 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $312,072,000 after acquiring an additional 455,860 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Energy Transfer news, Director Kelcy L. Warren acquired 1,350,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.36 per share, with a total value of $23,436,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 69,178,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,200,938,360.72. The trade was a 1.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James Richard Perry sold 1,369 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 24,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $453,185.04. This represents a 5.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ET. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Cowen began coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.50.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of ET traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $17.67. 10,079,556 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,642,579. Energy Transfer LP has a 1-year low of $14.60 and a 1-year high of $21.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.64 and a 200-day moving average of $17.83. The stock has a market cap of $60.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.5%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

About Energy Transfer

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.