Wellington Management Group LLP Purchases New Position in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP has made a new investment of approximately $17.18 million in Energy Transfer LP, acquiring 924,000 shares during the first quarter.
• Energy Transfer recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $1.32 and a yield of 7.5%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Energy Transfer, with a target price averaging $22.50.

Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 924,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $17,177,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 1st quarter worth $49,000. Cambiar Investors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 18.6% during the 1st quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 376,604 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,001,000 after buying an additional 59,005 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 397,626 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,392,000 after buying an additional 23,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management increased its holdings in Energy Transfer by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 36,737 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 2,421 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Energy Transfer from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.50.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

NYSE:ET traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $17.67. 10,079,556 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,419,130. The firm has a market cap of $60.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 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. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $17.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The company 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 quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.5%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio is presently 102.33%.

Insider Activity

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

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.