Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Trims Stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY reduced its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,840,886 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 68,946 shares during the quarter. Energy Transfer accounts for about 2.8% of Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY owned approximately 0.19% of Energy Transfer worth $80,604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ET. VitalStone Financial LLC raised its position in Energy Transfer by 100.0% in the first quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Energy Transfer in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its position in Energy Transfer by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC raised its position in Energy Transfer by 86.8% in the third quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IMA Wealth Inc. raised its position in Energy Transfer by 100.0% in the second quarter. IMA Wealth Inc. now owns 2,400 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Energy Transfer has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.57.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of ET traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.73. 10,198,469 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,350,464. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.15. Energy Transfer LP has a 52 week low of $12.18 and a 52 week high of $16.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41 and a beta of 1.64. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 6th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.01%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Energy Transfer's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.60%.

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.