Royal Bank of Canada Sells 408,586 Shares of Energy Transfer LP $ET

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in Energy Transfer LP by 8.2%, owning approximately 4.59 million shares valued at $85.33 million after selling 408,586 shares in the first quarter.
• Energy Transfer reported $0.32 EPS for the last quarter, matching analysts' expectations, but experienced a 7.2% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33, with an annualized yield of 7.5%, despite having a dividend payout ratio of over 102%.

Royal Bank of Canada decreased its position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 8.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,589,952 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 408,586 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.13% of Energy Transfer worth $85,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Energy Income Partners LLC raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.3% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 755,652 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $14,048,000 after acquiring an additional 9,932 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 42.1% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 32,074 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500 shares in the last quarter. OLD Mission Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the first quarter valued at $428,000. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 289.5% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 39,478 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $734,000 after acquiring an additional 29,343 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Energy Transfer news, Director James Richard Perry sold 1,369 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.48, for a total value of $25,299.12. Following the sale, the director owned 24,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $453,185.04. The trade was a 5.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kelcy L. Warren acquired 1,350,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.36 per share, with a total value of $23,436,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 69,178,477 shares in the company, valued at $1,200,938,360.72. This trade represents a 1.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Mizuho raised their price target on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Energy Transfer from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given 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 $22.54.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ET traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $17.41. The company had a trading volume of 12,069,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,490,927. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.15. Energy Transfer LP has a 12 month low of $14.60 and a 12 month high of $21.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.85.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 11.08% and a net margin of 5.80%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio is presently 102.33%.

Energy Transfer Company 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.