First Manhattan CO. LLC. Buys Shares of 53,707 Energy Transfer LP $ET

Key Points

• First Manhattan CO. LLC has acquired 53,707 shares of Energy Transfer LP, valued at approximately $998,000, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• Wall Street analysts have a positive outlook on Energy Transfer, with multiple firms issuing "overweight" and "buy" ratings and a consensus target price of $22.54.
• Energy Transfer recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.33 per share, which translates to an annualized payout of $1.32 and a dividend yield of 7.5%.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 53,707 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $998,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. United Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,540 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.5% during the first quarter. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 39,934 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $742,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.3% during the first quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 46,382 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $862,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.1% during the first quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 58,181 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,082,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FAS Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.0% during the first quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 33,733 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Energy Transfer news, Director Kelcy L. Warren bought 1,350,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.36 per share, for a total transaction of $23,436,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 69,178,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,200,938,360.72. This represents a 1.99% increase in their position. The acquisition 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 firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 24,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $453,185.04. The trade was a 5.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.28% of the company's stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ET traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $17.41. The stock had a trading volume of 12,069,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,490,927. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $17.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.74. Energy Transfer LP has a 1-year low of $14.60 and a 1-year high of $21.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.49, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 11.08%. The company had revenue of $19.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. Energy Transfer's revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. 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 102.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on ET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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 reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Cowen started coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.54.

Energy Transfer Company 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.