Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Grows Stake in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Key Points

• Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Energy Transfer LP by 137.8% during the second quarter, acquiring 15,844 additional shares for a total holding worth $496,000.
• Energy Transfer's quarterly earnings report showed earnings per share (EPS) of $0.32, meeting expectations, while revenue decreased by 7.2% year-over-year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, representing an annualized yield of 7.6% despite a payout ratio exceeding 102%.

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 137.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,345 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,844 shares during the quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in Energy Transfer by 12.9% during the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 75,353,994 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,400,831,000 after buying an additional 8,613,645 shares during the period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 38,205,495 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $710,240,000 after acquiring an additional 951,656 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 0.8% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 12.0% during the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 23,120,066 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $429,802,000 after purchasing an additional 2,471,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $312,072,000 after purchasing an additional 455,860 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 1,350,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,200,938,360.72. This trade represents a 1.99% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.28% of the company's stock.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 0.2%

ET traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $17.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,300,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,422,809. Energy Transfer LP has a twelve month low of $14.60 and a twelve month high of $21.45. The stock has a market cap of $59.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.85. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $17.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

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

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 7.6%. Energy Transfer's payout ratio is presently 102.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ET has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Scotiabank began coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. Thirteen 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, Energy Transfer currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.54.

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.