Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Buys 671,927 Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 515.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 802,299 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 671,927 shares during the quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $11,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 109,332.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 145,943,387 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,732,348,000 after buying an additional 145,810,023 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 76,339,168 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $906,146,000 after purchasing an additional 13,220,435 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 73,666,501 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,033,541,000 after purchasing an additional 9,341,798 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 1,447.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,756,955 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $518,460,000 after purchasing an additional 3,514,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,932,000. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of Energy Transfer stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $15.84. 7,853,246 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,970,022. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $53.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 1.64. The firm's fifty day moving average is $14.93 and its 200-day moving average is $14.13. Energy Transfer LP has a 52 week low of $12.18 and a 52 week high of $16.04.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.08. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. The company's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.95%. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ET has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup upped their target price on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $17.57.

Energy Transfer Company 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.