Principal Street Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Principal Street Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 56.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,071 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 17,248 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC's holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ET. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 12,090.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 12,455,613 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $244,005,000 after purchasing an additional 12,353,441 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Energy Transfer by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,634,018 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $756,840,000 after acquiring an additional 5,254,721 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter valued at about $79,113,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,166,000. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in Energy Transfer by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,331,220 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $319,929,000 after acquiring an additional 2,512,060 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ET opened at $18.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Energy Transfer LP has a 1-year low of $14.60 and a 1-year high of $21.45. The company has a market capitalization of $62.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $17.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.58.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.74% and a return on equity of 11.56%. The business had revenue of $21.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.3275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.23%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer's payout ratio is currently 99.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ET. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Energy Transfer currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.64.

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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