Royal Palms Capital LLC Invests $2.66 Million in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Key Points

• Royal Palms Capital LLC initiated a new position in Energy Transfer LP during the fourth quarter, buying 161,170 shares valued at about $2.66 million. The stake represents roughly 3.2% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Other institutional investors also increased their ET holdings, and institutions now own 38.22% of the company’s stock. Recent buyers included Brighton Jones, AQR Capital, Geode Capital, Russell Investments, and Guggenheim.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive: analysts have mostly Buy or better ratings, with an average price target of $23.27. Energy Transfer also recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.3375 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 6.9%.

Royal Palms Capital LLC bought a new position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 161,170 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $2,658,000. Energy Transfer makes up approximately 3.2% of Royal Palms Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ET. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 93.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 24,530 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 11,844 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 62.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,041 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $391,000 after acquiring an additional 8,118 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 135,395 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,455,000 after acquiring an additional 7,901 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 436.5% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,179 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 50,919 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $923,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ET. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up from $22.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Energy Transfer from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $23.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $23.27.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Energy Transfer stock opened at $19.60 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a market capitalization of $67.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.33, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's 50 day moving average is $19.40 and its 200 day moving average is $18.12. Energy Transfer LP has a twelve month low of $16.18 and a twelve month high of $20.70.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.05). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 9.77%. The business had revenue of $27.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 32.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.3375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.35 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. 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%.

About Energy Transfer

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.