Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Key Points

• Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Energy Transfer LP by 4.0%, owning 882,978 shares valued at approximately $16 million after selling 36,614 shares in the second quarter.
• Energy Transfer recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.33 per share, resulting in a 7.8% yield, despite having a dividend payout ratio of 102.33%.
• Analysts maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating on Energy Transfer with a target price averaging $22.50, as several institutional investors have significantly increased their holdings in the company.

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 882,978 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 36,614 shares during the quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $16,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 2nd quarter valued at $168,917,000. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 8,613,645 shares during the period. Commerce Bank bought a new stake in Energy Transfer in the first quarter valued at approximately $92,607,000. Energy Income Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.0% in the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 23,120,066 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $429,802,000 after purchasing an additional 2,471,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the first quarter worth approximately $44,876,000. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 0.5%

ET stock opened at $16.83 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $17.47 and a 200 day moving average of $17.53. The firm has a market cap of $57.78 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.78. Energy Transfer LP has a twelve month low of $14.60 and a twelve month high of $21.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32. The firm had revenue of $19.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.8%. 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 presently 102.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 1,350,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.36 per share, for a total transaction of $23,436,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 69,178,477 shares in the company, valued at $1,200,938,360.72. This represents a 1.99% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $23.00 price target (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. TD Cowen started coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Cowen began coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.50.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.