Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Makes New Investment in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 243,897 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $478,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. JCP Investment Management LLC grew its position in Energy Transfer by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC now owns 684,064 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $13,401,000 after purchasing an additional 7,064 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 125.0% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 469,227 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $9,192,000 after buying an additional 260,700 shares in the last quarter. Fairholme Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at about $16,708,000. Diligent Investors LLC boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 45,576 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 10,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Global Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,793,007 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $113,485,000 after purchasing an additional 184,626 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 0.9%

ET opened at $17.22 on Monday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $17.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $59.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.45, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.77. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 11.56% and a net margin of 5.74%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.3275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This is a boost from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.61%. Energy Transfer's payout ratio is currently 99.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ET shares. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.09.

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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