NorthRock Partners LLC Invests $755,000 in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 38,528 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $755,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Energy Transfer by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,830,861 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $55,457,000 after buying an additional 1,093,585 shares during the last quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 854,579 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $16,741,000 after acquiring an additional 4,646 shares during the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP now owns 2,618,212 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $51,291,000 after purchasing an additional 700,000 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,776,221 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $387,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093,381 shares during the period. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter worth $478,000. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:ET opened at $17.98 on Friday. Energy Transfer LP has a 52 week low of $14.60 and a 52 week high of $21.45. The company's 50 day moving average is $17.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.54. The company has a market cap of $61.69 billion, a PE ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 5.74%. The firm had revenue of $21.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. Energy Transfer's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.3275 dividend. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio is currently 99.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ET has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Energy Transfer currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.09.

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.

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