Kamunting Street Capital Management L.P. Purchases 446,437 Shares of Energy Transfer LP $ET

Key Points

• Kamunting Street Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Energy Transfer LP by 36.2%, making it the largest position in its investment portfolio with holdings worth approximately $31.2 million.
• Energy Transfer recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33, representing a yield of 7.5%, despite a dividend payout ratio exceeding 100%.
• As of its last earnings report, Energy Transfer achieved an EPS of $0.32, matching analyst expectations, but experienced a 7.2% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.

Kamunting Street Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 36.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,679,238 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 446,437 shares during the period. Energy Transfer accounts for approximately 20.9% of Kamunting Street Capital Management L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Kamunting Street Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $31,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.9% in the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 75,353,994 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,400,831,000 after acquiring an additional 8,613,645 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 1st quarter valued at about $92,607,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,113,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in Energy Transfer by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,331,220 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $319,929,000 after acquiring an additional 2,512,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,426,000. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ET has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Cowen started coverage on Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.50.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of ET traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $17.57. 9,199,236 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,451,710. The firm has a market cap of $60.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.83. Energy Transfer LP has a 12-month low of $14.60 and a 12-month high of $21.45. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $17.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

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 (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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $24.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business 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. This is an increase from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.5%. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 102.33%.

Insider Transactions at Energy Transfer

In other Energy Transfer news, Director James Richard Perry sold 1,369 shares of the 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 1,350,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.36 per share, for a total transaction of $23,436,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 69,178,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,200,938,360.72. This represents a 1.99% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 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.