Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 83,162 Shares of Energy Transfer LP $ET

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Energy Transfer LP by 8.8% during Q2, now holding shares worth $18.41 million.
• Analysts generally view Energy Transfer stock positively, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $22.50.
• Energy Transfer declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 7.6%, reflecting a positive change compared to the previous dividend.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 8.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,024,606 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 83,162 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $18,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.9% in the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 75,353,994 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,400,831,000 after buying an additional 8,613,645 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.6% in 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 buying an additional 951,656 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 0.8% in 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 buying an additional 182,705 shares in the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $429,802,000 after acquiring an additional 2,471,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in Energy Transfer by 2.8% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,787,080 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $312,072,000 after purchasing an additional 455,860 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ET. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Scotiabank began coverage on Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $23.00 price objective for the company. Cowen began coverage on Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.50.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:ET traded down $0.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $17.15. 16,753,445 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,991,882. Energy Transfer LP has a 52 week low of $14.60 and a 52 week high of $21.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $58.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $17.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.61.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.08% and a net margin of 5.80%.The business had revenue of $19.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $24.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. Energy Transfer's revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a boost from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.7%. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Energy Transfer

In other Energy Transfer news, Director Kelcy L. Warren acquired 1,350,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.36 per share, for a total transaction of $23,436,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 69,178,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,200,938,360.72. This trade represents a 1.99% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Energy Transfer 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.