Uptown Financial Advisors LLC Raises Position in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Key Points

• Uptown Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Energy Transfer LP by 41.8%, holding a total of 128,554 shares valued at approximately $2.33 million.
• Institutional investors own 38.22% of Energy Transfer's stock, with various firms, including Alps Advisors Inc. and Commerce Bank, making significant new acquisitions.
• Energy Transfer recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, yielding around 7.5%, while maintaining a payout ratio of 102.33%.

Uptown Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 41.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 128,554 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 37,865 shares during the period. Energy Transfer comprises about 2.0% of Uptown Financial Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Uptown Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $2,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strong Tower Advisory Services acquired a new position in Energy Transfer in the first quarter valued at about $2,604,000. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 316.9% during the first quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 117,312 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,181,000 after buying an additional 89,173 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 223.5% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,069,534 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $19,883,000 after buying an additional 738,885 shares during the period. Appaloosa LP boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 0.9% during the first quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 4,957,235 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $92,155,000 after buying an additional 42,500 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the first quarter worth about $92,607,000. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ET. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Cowen assumed coverage on Energy Transfer in a research report 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 research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.50.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of ET stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $17.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,417,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,723,466. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $17.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.62. Energy Transfer LP has a 52 week low of $14.60 and a 52 week high of $21.45. 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 company has a market cap of $59.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 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 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32. The business had revenue of $19.24 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Energy Transfer

In other Energy Transfer news, Director Kelcy L. Warren bought 1,350,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 69,178,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,200,938,360.72. The trade was a 1.99% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.