State of Wyoming Raises Position in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Key Points

• The State of Wyoming significantly increased its stake in Energy Transfer LP by 289.5% during the first quarter, acquiring a total of 39,478 shares valued at approximately $734,000.
• Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 1,350,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock for around $23.4 million, raising his ownership to approximately $1.2 billion.
• Energy Transfer reported a decline in revenue of 7.2% year-over-year for its latest quarter, with earnings per share meeting analyst estimates at $0.32.

State of Wyoming lifted its position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 289.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,478 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 29,343 shares during the period. State of Wyoming's holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ET. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 75,353,994 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,400,831,000 after purchasing an additional 8,613,645 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.6% during the first quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 38,205,495 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $710,240,000 after purchasing an additional 951,656 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 0.8% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 24,170,455 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $449,329,000 after purchasing an additional 182,705 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,776,221 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $387,416,000 after buying an additional 1,093,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Energy Transfer by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,787,080 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $312,072,000 after buying an additional 455,860 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ET. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Cowen started coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $23.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Energy Transfer from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.50.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

NYSE:ET opened at $17.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.64 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.83. Energy Transfer LP has a 52-week low of $14.60 and a 52-week high of $21.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 business's quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. Analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is an increase from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. Energy Transfer's payout ratio is presently 102.33%.

About Energy Transfer

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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