Alps Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Alps Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 12.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,353,994 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,613,645 shares during the quarter. Energy Transfer comprises 8.1% of Alps Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Alps Advisors Inc. owned about 2.20% of Energy Transfer worth $1,400,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. United Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,540 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 135,647 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,657,000 after buying an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 46,382 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $862,000 after buying an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,389 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC now owns 32,556 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on ET shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Cowen started coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.58.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 0.4%

Energy Transfer stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $17.52. The company had a trading volume of 7,003,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,760,883. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $17.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.44. Energy Transfer LP has a 12 month low of $14.60 and a 12 month high of $21.45. The company has a market capitalization of $60.11 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.79.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 5.88%. The business had revenue of $21.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.3275 per share. This is an increase from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio is presently 99.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James Richard Perry sold 1,369 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.48, for a total transaction of $25,299.12. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 24,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $453,185.04. This represents a 5.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.