Heronetta Management L.P. Acquires 64,100 Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Heronetta Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 907,154 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 64,100 shares during the quarter. Energy Transfer comprises 9.9% of Heronetta Management L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Heronetta Management L.P.'s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $12,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Energy Transfer by 109,332.4% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 145,810,023 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 76,339,168 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $906,146,000 after buying an additional 13,220,435 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 14.5% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 73,666,501 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,033,541,000 after buying an additional 9,341,798 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 25,621,485 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $353,576,000 after buying an additional 7,097,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 1,447.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,756,955 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $518,460,000 after buying an additional 3,514,195 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ET traded down $0.04 on Monday, hitting $15.81. 11,070,289 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,382,601. The firm's 50-day moving average is $14.95 and its 200 day moving average is $14.15. The company has a market capitalization of $53.25 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50 and a beta of 1.64. Energy Transfer LP has a 1-year low of $12.18 and a 1-year high of $16.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.46 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.44 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were issued a $0.315 dividend. This is an increase from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 6th. Energy Transfer's payout ratio is presently 115.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ET shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.57.

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.