IFP Advisors Inc Decreases Stock Position in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Key Points

• IFP Advisors Inc reduced its stake in Energy Transfer LP by 60.5% in the 2nd quarter, selling 131,856 shares and retaining 86,211 shares worth approximately $1.56 million.
• Several other hedge funds have increased their holdings in Energy Transfer, with Alps Advisors Inc. alone boosting their stake by 12.9%, totaling over 75 million shares worth nearly $1.4 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, representing an annualized amount of $1.32 and a dividend yield of 8.1%.

IFP Advisors Inc lowered its stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 60.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,211 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 131,856 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc's holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $1,563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.9% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased 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 buying an additional 951,656 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $449,329,000 after buying an additional 182,705 shares during the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 23,120,066 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $429,802,000 after buying an additional 2,471,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,787,080 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $312,072,000 after buying an additional 455,860 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ET has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. TD Cowen initiated 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. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.50.

Insider Activity at Energy Transfer

In related news, Director Kelcy L. Warren bought 1,350,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.36 per share, with a total value of $23,436,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 69,178,477 shares in the company, valued at $1,200,938,360.72. The trade was a 1.99% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.28% of the company's stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ET opened at $16.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $55.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.78. Energy Transfer LP has a 12 month low of $14.60 and a 12 month high of $21.45. The firm's 50-day moving average is $17.34 and its 200 day moving average is $17.46. 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 issued 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. The company had revenue of $19.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.07 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 11.08%. The firm's revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Research analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.1%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio is 102.33%.

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.

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