Lavelle Capital LP Buys New Stake in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Key Points

• Lavelle Capital acquired 54,421 shares of Energy Transfer during the first quarter, valued at approximately $1.05 million. Institutional investors collectively own 38.22% of the company.
• Energy Transfer reported quarterly revenue of $27.77 billion, up 32.1% year over year, but earnings per share of $0.35 fell short of analysts’ $0.40 consensus estimate.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, equivalent to an annualized $1.36 and a 6.7% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $23.50.

Lavelle Capital LP purchased a new position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 54,421 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $1,050,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ET. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Energy Transfer by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 86,310,272 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,423,256,000 after acquiring an additional 25,366,594 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in Energy Transfer by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 83,843,087 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,382,573,000 after purchasing an additional 6,192,066 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Energy Transfer by 3.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 57,862,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $992,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,773,042 shares during the period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 38,675,828 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $637,764,000 after purchasing an additional 103,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 30,956,358 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $597,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656,609 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

ET opened at $20.38 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $19.55 and a 200 day moving average of $19.10. The stock has a market cap of $70.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.98, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Energy Transfer LP has a 52-week low of $16.18 and a 52-week high of $20.70.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $27.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.78 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 9.77% and a net margin of 4.66%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 32.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.44 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ET. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up from $22.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.50.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

Energy Transfer NYSE: ET is a Dallas-based midstream energy company that develops and operates infrastructure for the transportation, storage and processing of hydrocarbons. The company's operations focus on moving and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined products through an integrated network of pipelines, terminals, storage facilities and processing plants. Energy Transfer provides core midstream services such as gathering, compression, fractionation, processing, and bulk transportation to support production and downstream supply chains.

Its asset base spans an extensive network across the United States, connecting producing regions, processing centers, petrochemical hubs and coastal and inland markets.

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