Energy Transfer LP $ET Stock Position Raised by Gabelli Funds LLC

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in Energy Transfer LP by 2.3% in the first quarter, owning 1,278,492 shares valued at approximately $23.77 million.
• Multiple hedge funds made significant adjustments to their positions in Energy Transfer over the last quarter, with Brighton Jones LLC raising its stake by 93.4%.
• Energy Transfer's quarterly dividend was recently maintained at $0.33 per share, yielding approximately 7.5%, while the company has a 102.33% dividend payout ratio.

Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,278,492 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,000 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC's holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $23,767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 75,353,994 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,400,831,000 after purchasing an additional 8,613,645 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 2.6% during the first quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 38,205,495 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $710,240,000 after buying an additional 951,656 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 0.8% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 24,170,455 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $449,329,000 after buying an additional 182,705 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,776,221 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $387,416,000 after buying an additional 1,093,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 2.8% during 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 buying an additional 455,860 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ET has been the topic of several research reports. Cowen initiated coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Energy Transfer from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. 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, Energy Transfer presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.50.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Energy Transfer stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $17.67. 10,079,556 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,642,579. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $17.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $60.64 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.83. Energy Transfer LP has a one year low of $14.60 and a one year high of $21.45.

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

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This is an increase from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Energy Transfer

In other Energy Transfer 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 value of $25,299.12. Following the transaction, the director 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelcy L. Warren acquired 1,350,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.36 per share, with a total value of $23,436,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 69,178,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,200,938,360.72. This represents a 1.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.