Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Key Points

• Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC increased its stake in Energy Transfer LP by 112.1%, acquiring an additional 17,200 shares, bringing its total holdings to 32,550 shares valued at approximately $605,000.
• Energy Transfer recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 7.5%, and an increase from the previous quarterly dividend.
• Institutional ownership of Energy Transfer now stands at 38.22%, with significant recent purchases by firms like Commerce Bank and Zurich Insurance Group.

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 112.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,550 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 17,200 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC's holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $605,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.9% during 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 buying an additional 8,613,645 shares during the period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its position in shares of 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 worth $710,240,000 after purchasing an additional 951,656 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its position in shares of 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 worth $449,329,000 after purchasing an additional 182,705 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased 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 purchasing an additional 1,093,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 455,860 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Energy Transfer news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 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 completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 69,178,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,200,938,360.72. The trade was a 1.99% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James Richard Perry sold 1,369 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.48, for a total value of $25,299.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $453,185.04. The trade was a 5.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Cowen began coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. TD Cowen began coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.50.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:ET traded down $0.05 during trading on Thursday, reaching $17.53. 3,231,037 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,377,574. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.83. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $17.65 and its 200-day moving average is $17.85.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32. The firm had revenue of $19.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.07 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.08% and a net margin of 5.80%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

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

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.