Sanders Morris Harris LLC Sells 23,236 Shares of Energy Transfer LP $ET

Key Points

• Sanders Morris Harris LLC reduced its stake in Energy Transfer LP by 27.3%, selling 23,236 shares, leaving them with 61,962 shares valued at approximately $1.12 million.
• Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 1,350,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock for about $23.44 million, increasing his ownership to over 69 million shares.
• Energy Transfer has maintained a quarterly dividend of $0.33, yielding 7.9%, despite a dividend payout ratio of 102.33% and a decline in year-over-year revenue by 7.2%.

Sanders Morris Harris LLC lessened its stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 27.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,962 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 23,236 shares during the period. Sanders Morris Harris LLC's holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $1,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ET. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 2nd quarter valued at about $168,917,000. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 8,613,645 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank bought a new stake in Energy Transfer in the first quarter worth $92,607,000. Energy Income Partners LLC increased 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 buying an additional 2,471,401 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,876,000. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Energy Transfer

In other Energy Transfer news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 1,350,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.36 per share, with a total value of $23,436,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 69,178,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,200,938,360.72. The trade was a 1.99% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ET. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen began coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.67.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Energy Transfer stock opened at $16.77 on Tuesday. Energy Transfer LP has a fifty-two week low of $14.60 and a fifty-two week high of $21.45. The stock has a market cap of $57.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $17.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.39. 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 (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The company had revenue of $19.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.07 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.08% and a net margin of 5.80%.The firm's revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.9%. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is 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.

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