Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Increases Position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 22.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,849 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 19,420 shares during the quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $1,949,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ET. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Energy Transfer by 12,090.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 12,455,613 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $244,005,000 after acquiring an additional 12,353,441 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,634,018 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $756,840,000 after purchasing an additional 5,254,721 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter worth $79,113,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at $50,166,000. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 18.2% in 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 buying an additional 2,512,060 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

NYSE ET opened at $18.21 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.50. The company has a market capitalization of $62.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.78. Energy Transfer LP has a 1-year low of $14.60 and a 1-year high of $21.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $21.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.28 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 5.88%. Energy Transfer's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.3275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.20%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer's payout ratio is presently 99.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Energy Transfer

In other Energy Transfer news, Director James Richard Perry sold 1,369 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.48, for a total transaction of $25,299.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $453,185.04. This trade represents a 5.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.28% of the company's stock.

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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