Energy Transfer LP $ET Shares Sold by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its stake in Energy Transfer LP by 15.2% in the 1st quarter, holding 262,399 shares valued at approximately $4.88 million.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook for Energy Transfer, with 12 buy ratings and a consensus price target of $22.75.
• Energy Transfer recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, representing a yield of 7.7%, despite a payout ratio exceeding 100%.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 15.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 262,399 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 46,943 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $4,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ET. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 93.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 24,530 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 11,844 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 54,141 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,797 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 126,394 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,476,000 after acquiring an additional 2,797 shares in the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 46,634 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 14,619,124 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $286,389,000 after acquiring an additional 962,800 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $23.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. TD Cowen began coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.75.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of ET traded down $0.0180 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $17.3320. 13,990,496 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,673,210. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.83. 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 LP has a twelve month low of $14.60 and a twelve month high of $21.45. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $17.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.95.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32. The company had revenue of $19.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.07 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.08% and a net margin of 5.80%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.6%. This is a positive change 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%.

Insider Activity at Energy Transfer

In other news, Director James Richard Perry sold 1,369 shares of the firm'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 approximately $453,185.04. This trade represents a 5.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.28% of the company's stock.

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.